The Grow Well/Crecer Bien project collaborates with healthcare systems and community organizations to address early childhood obesity in low-income Latino families.

Grow Well

Supporting your family during the healthy growth of your baby during their early years.

We adapted the Healthy Beginnings curriculum, a program developed in Australia for first time mothers. The program provides mothers with educational material and resources to support child growth and wellbeing during the first 24 months of life. We made changes to this curriculum to meet the needs of Latino families in southern California.

Behind the Project

What We’re Doing Now

Our team of community health workers is implementing and testing our adapted curriculum with Latino families in the Coachella Valley.

Check out our Virtual Talks for Moms on Youtube. This 6-part video talk series covers the following topics: 

  1. Choosing Caregivers

  2. Importance of Language

  3. Caring Infant During Their First Days

  4. Caring Infant While They Sleep

  5. Care Rides: Baby 101

Principle Investigator: Ann Cheney, PhD

Community Investigator: Maria Pozar

Co-investigator: Alison Tovar, Evelyn Vázquez

Senior Research Assistant: Andrea Ramirez

Program Manager: Ashley Moran

Program Coordinator: Arianna Zimmer

Las Promotoras: Ana Gonzalez, Blanca Quintero, Guadalupe Vieyra, Maria Molina, Mary Bautista, Nancy Del Castillo, Sandra Ramirez, Solangel Cruz, Sonia Rodriguez, Yesenia Pozar

Publications

The Sociocultural Factors Underlying Latina Mothers’ Infant Feeding Practices

Cheney, A. M., Nieri, T., Davis, E., Prologo, J., Valencia, E., Anderson, A. T., Widaman, K., Reaves, C., & Sullivan, G. (2019). The Sociocultural Factors Underlying Latina Mothers' Infant Feeding Practices. Global qualitative nursing research, 6, 2333393618825253. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333393618825253

Grow well/Crecer bien: a protocol for research on infant feeding practices in lowincome families

Cheney, A. M., Nieri, T., Ramirez Zarate, A., Garcia, G., Vaca, L., Valencia, E., Versteeg, C., Molina, A., Castillo, M., & Tovar, A. (2020). Grow well/Crecer bien: a protocol for research on infant feeding practices in low-income families. BMC public health, 20(1), 1431. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09471-1

A Systematic Review of Research on Non-Maternal Caregivers’ Feeding of Children 0–3 Years

Nieri, T., Zimmer, A., Vaca, J. M., Tovar, A., & Cheney, A. (2022). A Systematic Review of Research on Non-Maternal Caregivers' Feeding of Children 0-3 Years. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(21), 14463. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114463

Involvement of Non-Parental Caregivers in Obesity Prevention Interventions among 0–3-Year-Old Children: A Scoping Review

Ramirez, A., Tovar, A., Garcia, G., Nieri, T., Hernandez, S., Sastre, M., & Cheney, A. M. (2022). Involvement of Non-Parental Caregivers in Obesity Prevention Interventions among 0-3-Year-Old Children: A Scoping Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(8), 4910. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084910