Developing a “Tailor-Made” Precision Lifestyle Medicine Intervention for Weight Control among Middle-aged Latino Men

Abstract

Objective: To identify what is important to middle-aged Latino men and their personal goals and values as foundations for a future precision lifestyle medicine intervention that is rooted in Self-Determination Theory.Design: We used a phenomenological, thematic approach to analyze data from 20 semi-structured, individual interviews with Latino men aged 35-60 years.Setting: Community-based settings between November 2017 and May 2018 in South Florida.Participants: Latino or Hispanic men who were aged 35-60 years. The mean age of the men was 49.8 years.Results: Two key themes emerged: a) the characteristics that these men say define what it means to be a man; and b) the characteristics that these men say define what is important to them. “What defines a man” includes three primary subthemes: a) the attributes, characteristics and behaviors that participants understood to be ideals that a man should embody and the roles he should fulfill; b) lessons learned growing up about what it means to be a man; and c) how Latino men relate to the ideal of machismo. “What defines me” includes the subthemes: a) comparing themselves with the ideal of machismo; b) caring for family and others; and c) supporting and modeling positive behavior for their children.Conclusions: We found key candidate mechanisms that may be novel yet critical foundations on which to build a precision lifestyle medicine intervention for Latino men. We identified actionable psycho­social factors that map onto motivational constructs that can shape behaviors that are essential for weight control and be a useful foundation for improving the health of middle-aged Latino men. Ethn Dis. 2020;30(Suppl 1):203-210; doi:10.18865/ed.30.S1.203

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