Wisconsin Partnership to Fund Study on Causes of Obesity in Latino Youth

Madison, Wisconsin - From insulin resistance to urban planning policy, a new project funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program will apply the widest possible lens to barriers to health and physical activity among Latino youth in Milwaukee.

The findings could help Wisconsin address rising childhood obesity rates, one of the state's top health priorities.

The Wisconsin Partnership Program awarded $300,000 to a team led by Aaron Carrel, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and medical director of the UW Health Pediatric Fitness Clinic.

The project will examine how individual, social, and environmental factors affect health of children on Milwaukee's south side.

The effort is anchored by the United Community Center (UCC), which has provided services on the south side of Milwaukee for four decades. The Wisconsin Departments of Health Services and Public Instruction and multiple UW-Madison departments - including nutrition, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and urban and regional planning - are also involved.

Based at a UCC-run charter school (Bruce-Guadalupe School), students will undergo individual fitness tests. They will also be equipped with GPS technology and digital cameras to document how they make nutritional choices and engage with resources like parks and bike paths.