Public health doctoral student presents research at conference
Kimberly Arellano Carmona, a first year doctoral student in public health, recently presented research at the Society for Behavioral Medicine. The study, “Beyond Fatalism: Nutrition information overload and sources of confusion among bicultural Latinas,” found that Mexican-American women were confused by healthy eating recommendations despite being able to articulate basic principles of nutrition. Arellano Carmona's research was conducted together with her mentor, Professor Susana Ramirez, and a recent UC Merced graduate, Stephanie Gamboa (Public Health, ’17).
The project is part of Professor Ramirez’ research program funded by the National Cancer Institute, which aims to develop a culturally appropriate nutrition communication intervention for bicultural Mexican-American women. A previous study, which found that bicultural Mexican-American women identified diet as an essential way to express their culture, but perceived Mexican foods as unhealthy, identified unclear nutrition communication as a potential source of Latino health disparities.
