Empieza con Fuerza Tu Día (Kick Start Your Day): A Comic Book Designed to Increase Knowledge about Healthy Eating Habits among Latino Families

The Latino population in the United States is increasing, and has high rates of overweight and obesity. Hence, innovative health education materials are needed to promote obesity prevention efforts in this population. This article discusses the conceptualization and contents of Empieza con Fuerza Tu Día (Kick Start Your Day), a comic book written in Spanish, which promotes healthy eating habits. Key constructs of the health belief model (HBM) were included in various storylines depicted in the comic book. Twenty Latina health educators, promotoras, read the comic book and participated in one of two focus group interviews. Their feedback indicated that with some modifications, the comic book would be appropriate for Latino families. Hence, a health belief model comic book approach towards obesity prevention for Latino families is feasible