Physical Activity Interventions for Hispanic Youth: Review of Literature

Background: Hispanic youth are a high risk population that does not meet the recommended amount of physical activity for their age group. The purpose of this article is to review physical activity components in interventions and examine evidence-based strategies for promoting physical activity behaviors among Hispanic youth. Methods: A literature search was performed and a total of nine articles that were published between 2004 and 2011 were found describing nine intervention programs that met the inclusion criteria. Results: Most of the interventions were comprehensive and focused on physical activity, nutrition behaviors, and obesity prevention and ranged from seven weeks to three years duration. Of these interventions, most were school-based and fostered individual-level behavior change. The majority of interventions utilized a behavioral theory. A summary of each was developed, and commonly used physical activity promotion components were identified. More than half of the interventions had a significant impact on the outcomes. Conclusions: Effective strategies and lessons learned from research regarding physical activity promotion and Hispanic youth involvement in physical activity could be more clearly discussed. Recommendations for future programming for Hispanic youth are included.