Background Farmworker family members risk poor mental health due to stressors including poverty, relocation, and documentation status. This paper explores the relationship between farm-work related stressors and depressive symptoms in women of Latino farmworker families. Methods 248 mothers of young children completed fixed-response interviews in Spanish. Measures included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory, and USDA Household Food Security Survey Module. Results Bivariate analyses indicated greater depressive symptoms with more economic hardship, more farm work-related stressors, greater age, and being unmarried. In multivariable logistic regression, economic hardship remained the only factor associated with depressive symptoms. Discussion Greater economic hardship, but not general farm work-related stress, is a main factor associated with depression in women of Latino farmworker families. Maternal depression can have consequences for both mothers and families. Mental health services for women in farmworker families should be targeted to those with the greatest economic challenges.

Pediatric obesity continues to be an epidemic and affects Hispanic children disproportionately. Recent recommendations outline a step-wise approach to the treatment of overweight and obese children, culminating in tertiary-care, multidisciplinary programs. We detail here how our tertiary-care, family-based, pediatric weight management clinic addressed the problem of few Spanish-speaking families enrolling in treatment after referral by adding a Bilingual Case Manager. Utilizing a family-centered, high-contact, personal approach, our program increased the number of Hispanic families enrolling over ten-fold. Further, outcomes in Hispanic families were equal to or better than other racial/ethnic groups. Lessons learned from this experience may benefit other obesity treatment programs trying to improve care of Spanish-speaking families.

INTRODUCTION Dietary quality has been linked to obesity in children. Obesity among children of farmworker families exceeds that of other US Hispanic children. Knowledge of their dietary quality is needed to understand the origins and prevention of this obesity. METHODS Mothers (n=237) of 3-year old children in farmworker families completed 3 24-hour recalls with trained interviewers using the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R). Output was used to calculate total and component scores of the Revised Children’s Diet Quality Index (RC-DQI). RESULTS Mean total score was 62 (range 36–86) of an optimal score of 90. Scores for total fat, total grains, excess juice and iron were >80% of the optimum, but scores for added sugar, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables were considerably lower. DISCUSSION Children in farmworker families have low overall dietary quality. Intervention targeted to specific food issues may be an efficient way to addressing the problem.