Abstract:
U.S. Hispanic/Latino adults are at heightened risk for developing diet-related chronic diseases. Healthcare
provider recommendations have shown to be effective for promoting health behavior change, but little is known
about healthcare provider healthy eating recommendations among Hispanics/Latinos. To investigate the prevalence
of and adherence to healthcare provider-delivered healthy eating recommendations among a U.S. sample
of Hispanic/Latino adults, participants (N = 798; M = 39.6±15.1 years; 52% Mexican/Mexican American) were
recruited via Qualtrics Panels to complete an online survey in January 2018. Most (61%) participants reported
having ever received a healthcare provider-delivered dietary recommendation. Higher body mass index (AME =
0.015 [0.009, 0.021]) and having a chronic health condition (AME = 0.484 [0.398, 0.571]) were positively
associated with receiving a dietary recommendation while age (AME = 0.004 [ 0.007, 0.001]) and English
proficiency (AME = 0.086 [ 0.154, 0.018]) were negatively associated. Participants reported adhering
regularly (49.7%) and sometimes (44.4%) to recommendations. There were no significant associations with
patient characteristics and adherence to a healthcare provider-delivered dietary recommendation. Findings
inform next steps toward increasing implementation of brief dietary counseling from healthcare providers to
support prevention and management of chronic diseases among this under-studied population.