¡Podemos! Hablar a Los Padres Latinos: We Can!® Speaks to Spanish-Speaking Parents and Caregivers Nationwide

Posted May 12, 2011

With one in three children in the United States currently classified as obese or overweight, most communities face the challenge of helping their children achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

The U.S. Hispanic/Latino community is no different: Among children ages 2–19, nearly every two in five (38.2%) Hispanic children are overweight or obese (source:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

That’s why We Can! is making a special effort to reach Hispanic/Latino parents and caregivers through an array of efforts, including:

• An expanded Spanish-language Web site.  Be sure to check it out and download strategies, tips sheets, pre-written stories, and other Spanish-language resources for your community.
• A ¡Podemos! television public service announcement.  This 30-second public service announcement (PSA) in Spanish is one of three PSAs hitting the airwaves this spring, summer, and beyond.  Read about all of them, and how we are providing community site leaders with a way to customize them with their organization’s logo or telephone number, to create greater awareness of and participation in their local programming.

• Bus ad campaign in Spanish. Spanish-language posters promoting We Can!’s healthy behavior messages are running on buses and in bus shelters in the following 11 markets across the country, reaching a potential 53 million Americans, through June 2011:
  • Albuquerque, NM
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Boston, MA
  • Chicago, IL 
  • Dallas, TX
  • Detroit, MI
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Miami, FL
  • New York, NY
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Washington, DC

• Ads in Ser Padres and Vanidades magazines. Awareness-building advertisements about the We Can! program and its three key actions for staying at a healthy weight—eating right, being more active, and spending less time in front of the screen—will be running in the May editions of these popular magazines.  Each of these publications reaches millions of people:
  • Ser Padres—This publication is dedicated to Latina mothers, providing key information in Spanish while taking into consideration the Hispanic culture, language, and traditions.  There are some 600,000 subscribers, but the magazine estimates that it reaches closer to 3,445,000 given that magazines and information are shared with others.
  • Vanidades—The first Spanish-language magazine launched in the United States, this magazine has a circulation base of 3,240,000 and is one of the most-read women’s magazines in the U.S. Hispanic market.

Stay tuned to this eNewsletter, and the We Can! Web site, for updates on how many additional people became aware of We Can! thanks to these combined efforts.

¡Si, juntos podemos ayudar a los niños a mantener un peso saludable!
Yes, together we can help children stay at a healthy weight!