Seeking environmental and policy solutions to address Latino childhood obesity.

s t t h m a R t The selection of research articles in this Salud America! supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine features a variety of promisng strategies that aim to reduce obesity among Latino hildren. From family and consumer-directed health edcation, to improving environments and changing policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity, each article considers the context of Latino culture and/or conditions in places where Latinos live, work, learn, play, and pray. In this respect, the tone of this supplement is clear: anticipate long-term reduction in obesity rates by engaging the target population to foster behavior change and health-supportive social and physical environments. Latinos represent the nation’s largest at-risk group of children for overweight and obesity, and consequent chronic illnesses in later life. The primary culprit— nequities in social and physical environmental condiions that favor unhealthy nutrition and inactivity—puts illions of U.S. Latino children in jeopardy for developng type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and ore. The implications of high childhood obesity rates or decreased productivity, increased costs for health are, and decreased life span spell disaster, for the nation nd more so for Latinos. Primary prevention is, of course, the solution. Clinical xperience has taught us that working with individuals to ndo unhealthy behaviors and to endure barriers to healthy utrition and physical activity is notoriously diffıcult if not lusive. Prevention science signals the need for a multidisciplinary approach to address factors in the social and physical environments of children that underlie unhealthy behaviorsand that createbarriers.Communityexperience is showing us that changing these factors through policies and practices that promote healthy behaviors and lifestyles is both feasible and scalable. We expect behavior change nd social norms change to follow, over time. Overweight nd obesity rates decline, health improves. Articles in this supplement support the placeand popuation-level approach to prevention, and examinemodels in