A community-led program in rural Southern California may help Latino families build healthier routines around food, movement and chronic disease prevention. The program, called ¡Coma, Muévase y Viva! (“Eat, Move and Live!”), offers health education and support in Spanish and was evaluated in a study published in BMC Public Health.
Developed by City of Hope and delivered by promotoras, or trusted community health workers, the program reached Latina women living in the Eastern Coachella Valley, where diabetes rates are among the highest in California. Participants described improvements in eating habits, physical activity and their understanding of how to manage conditions like diabetes and high cholesterol.
“Our findings show that programs like ¡Coma, Muévase y Viva! can improve quality of life for underserved rural Latino populations,” said senior author Ann Cheney, a professor of social medicine, population and public health at UC Riverside.
She added that involving promotoras throughout the research process ensured the program felt relevant to daily life.
Latino families in many rural areas face limited access to healthy foods, safe places to exercise and Spanish-language health information. The 10-week virtual program was offered entirely in Spanish with Purépecha translation and combined health education, cooking demonstrations and group exercise sessions set to familiar music. Sessions covered nutrition, diabetes, cholesterol and affordable recipes tailored to cultural preferences.
To understand how participants experienced the program, Cheney and her team held focus groups with 20 Latina women in late 2022. Many said the program motivated them to eat more produce, cut back on sugary drinks and move more throughout the week. Some also mentioned weight loss, better energy and more confidence in managing diabetes and obesity.
The benefits often extended beyond the participants themselves. Many shared what they learned with family members, helping shift habits at home. The research team also found that using WhatsApp and culturally relevant materials helped build trust and keep the group connected.
“Programs like ¡Coma, Muévase y Viva! show that when communities lead the way, health education becomes more effective and empowering,” said first author Jacqueline Moreira, a program coordinator in UC Riverside’s Department of Social Medicine, Population and Public Health. She noted that the collaborative model strengthened community capacity and supported meaningful behavior change.
The authors said the findings point to the importance of culturally responsive public health programs, especially for families navigating language barriers, limited resources and geographic isolation. They also highlight how community-based approaches can complement medical care by offering practical tools and social support.
“By integrating local voices, cultural food traditions and community networks, ¡Coma, Muévase y Viva! provides a model for how to deliver accessible, relevant and sustainable health education in underserved communities,” Cheney said.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute.