Tu Salud ¡Sí Cuenta! Your Health Matters! A Community-wide Campaign in a Hispanic Border Community in Texas.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a community-wide campaign, Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! (TSSC), in improving eating behaviors and anthropometric outcomes in Hispanic border communities.

DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study with matched intervention and comparison communities. Cross-sectional assessments with randomly sampled adults, examined by actual exposure and site (unexposed intervention, exposed intervention, and unexposed comparison).

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Predominately Mexican Americans located in Brownsville, TX (intervention) and Laredo, TX (control).

INTERVENTION: The TSSC campaign included television and radio segments, community health worker discussions, and newsletters delivered in Brownsville from 2005 to 2010.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Healthy and unhealthy eating indices and average hip and waist circumferences.

ANALYSIS: Univariable and multivariable regression models.

RESULTS: The sample (n = 799; 400 comparison and 399 intervention) was 98% of Mexican origin; 54% had completed grade 9 or higher. Exposure to any TSSC component was associated with a lower rate of unhealthy food consumption. Compared with the unexposed intervention group, the exposed intervention for the newsletter had a higher rate of healthy eating (adjusted rate ratio = 1.18; P < .01). Compared with the unexposed intervention, the exposed intervention for the community health worker discussion had a smaller hip circumference (adjusted mean difference = -5.77 cm; P < .05) and a smaller waist circumference (adjusted mean difference = -5.25 cm; P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This study provides evidence for the use of community-wide campaigns for nutrition and obesity-related outcomes in Hispanic communities.