UT-Houston Nutrition Center Unveils Mexican-American Food Pyramid

A food guide pyramid especially for Mexican-Americans was unveiled October 15 by nutritionists at The University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health Human Nutrition Center. The pyramid, rendered in a colorful folk art mural by El Paso artist Mauricio Mora, is the centerpiece of a five-year community nutrition initiative launched recently in the Paso del Norte region of West Texas.

"This pyramid is the first to include foods that are a familiar part of the Mexican-American border diet," says R. Sue McPherson, M.S., Ph.D., "but we looked at more than just food. We also considered health problems like obesity and diabetes which occur frequently in Mexican-Americans, and included a lifestyle approach to good nutrition by incorporating physical activity and water consumption."

In addition to depictions of water consumption and images of people walking, this food guide pyramid includes foods like tortillas in the grains category, white cheese in the dairy section, avocado atop the pyramid in the category of sweets and fats and a whole tier of the pyramid devoted to beans. Dr. McPherson said at the unveiling that the mural and program were designed to express a sense of celebration and having fun with meal planning.

Over the summer, the School of Public Health tested the food guide pyramid on low-income Hispanic women in the city of El Paso. "We showed them how to use the pyramid to prepare healthier meals with the same core ingredients they normally use, and got feedback on whether they could actually adopt these low-fat alternatives," says Dr. McPherson. Other population subgroups in the region will also be tested, and a larger baseline survey to test the effectiveness of the pyramid will be conducted in the Paso del Norte region and Laredo.

UT-Houston joined forces with the Paso del Norte Health Foundation to launch the $3 million community health initiative, called Que Sabrosa Vida (What a Delicious Life). Although the food guide pyramid debuted in the Paso del Norte, Dr. McPherson says it applies to all Mexican-Americans who want to lighten up their traditional diet.

Mexican-Americans are particularly susceptible to lifestyle-related illnesses. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control show heart disease to be the leading cause of death among Hispanic Americans, and adult-onset (type 2) diabetes is number five on the list. Both diseases can be controlled or prevented with a lifestyle that includes a low fat, low cholesterol diet and regular exercise. Also, one-third of El Paso residents were found to be overweight in a 1996 study, making it one of the fattest cities in the nation. Houston didn't fare much better in 10th place, with over 29 percent of residents considered overweight.

(Additional reporting by Kristina Van Arsdel)

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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