Contact: Sheila Hotchkin, (210) 567-3026

Accompanied by an adult chaperone, Girl Scouts prepare to go on a spring break photo walk in the neighborhood around Edgewood Family Network, located in the 900 block of South San Eduardo, the afternoon of March 15.
Printer Friendly Format

SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 15, 2010) — In recent weeks, dozens of Girl Scouts have fanned out across the city’s West Side to take photographs that answer the question, “What makes it easy and what makes it hard to be physically active in your neighborhood?”

Their photos will be invaluable to researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, who are devising new ways to get girls moving.

Girl Scouts from the San Antonio and Edgewood independent school districts split up into small groups and went on several photo walks beginning in mid-February. Soon, they will present their photos to Health Science Center researchers and their own communities.

The girls, ages 11 to 14, were accompanied by adults on photo walks. Each group was given a camera, a global positioning system device and journals that allowed them to tell the story of what a particular photo represented.

Community involvement
Photovoice is just one piece of a larger project undertaken by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR), part of the UT Health Science Center’s School of Medicine.

Deborah M. Parra-Medina, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, and Laura Esparza, M.S., project coordinator, plan to use Photovoice and other feedback from the girls, their parents and the community to design an intervention that increases moderate to vigorous physical activity among adolescent — and particularly Hispanic — girls.

“It’s not a top-down research project — it’s a community collaboration,” Dr. Parra-Medina said. “They will be owners of the outcome as well.”

Because researchers want a strategy that incorporates low-cost mobile and wireless technology, like text-messaging, the Girl Scouts also were surveyed on their technology use.

A Girl Scout and one of the adult leaders discuss the Photovoice project on Feb. 15 at the Avenida Guadalupe Girl Scout Center, located in the 1400 block of Guadalupe Street.

Hispanic women more vulnerable to diabetes
Nearly one in 10 Hispanics is diagnosed with diabetes, and Hispanic women are more vulnerable than Hispanic men, according to the federal Office on Women’s Health. Maintaining a healthy weight is important in preventing and controlling type 2 diabetes, but 73 percent of Mexican-American women are overweight or obese, compared with 62 percent of the general female population. More than half of Mexican-American women report no leisure exercise at all.

Physical activity behaviors are formed early in life, so reaching Hispanic girls is an important first step to reversing these trends.

Local Girl Scout leadership supports project
“What we want to know is why? What would it take to help girls be more active? Also, what can we, as a community, do to support girls’ desires to be physically active?” Esparza said.

IHPR researchers teamed up with Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, which brings deep relationships within the community and a longstanding focus on healthy development for girls.

“Girl Scouts advocates for all girls, wherever they live and whatever their circumstance,” said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. “We are thrilled to be part of this important study that will impact the healthy development of girls and the communities they live in. Fifty-six percent of our girl members are Hispanic, and research on their needs is vital. The objective of this study is a perfect fit with Girl Scouting’s long tradition of teaching girls the skills necessary to lead healthy lives.”

Community partners
Other partners include the Edgewood Family Network and the departments of Health & Kinesiology and Electrical & Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio. The project received funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

# # #
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 2 percent of all U.S. institutions receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced 27,000 graduates. The $753 million operating budget supports six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.

Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas (GSSWT): In partnership with more than 8,000 adult volunteers, Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas serves 18,000 girls in its 21-county jurisdiction. Girl Scouting helps girls ages 5-17 develop the courage to experience new adventures, the confidence to defy self-doubt, and the character to impact a community. Volunteers are needed to help today’s girls make the world a better place. Change a Life. It’s forever. Volunteer. For more information, visit www.girlscouts-swtx.org.