Uriyoán Colón-Ramos
Biographic Data
| ID | 6255330 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Uriyoán Colón-Ramos |
| GIVEN NAMES | Uriyoán |
| FAMILY NAME | Colón-Ramos |
| SIGNATURE | COLÓN-RAMOS U |
| AFFILIATIONS | Milken Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0870-9722 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Design of the Focus on Restaurant Engagement to Strengthen Health (FRESH) study
Background: High dietary quality can protect against diet-related chronic diseases. In the United States, racial and ethnic minorities and those with lower incomes consistently exhibit lower dietary quality. Independently-owned restaurants are a common prepared food source in minority low-income communities, but there are significant knowledge gaps on how to work with these restaurants to offer healthy food, due to underlying and dynamic complexi…
Structures and systems that promote nutrition security and climate adaptation in Puerto Rico
Objective: This study aimed to develop a shared understanding about the drivers of nutrition security in Puerto Rico (PR) from the collective perspective of multi-sector stakeholders in the agri-food, environmental and the health/disease systems. Design: A participatory community-based system dynamics approach (group model building) engaged stakeholders during one 4-h workshop March 2023 (followed by two 2.5-h member checking sessions). Setting: …
The gap between tap water beliefs and preference for drinking from the tap
Objective: Half of people living in the USA do not consume tap water. Surveys have assessed perceptions of water and water utilities, but less is known about how these perceptions relate to the preference for tap or bottled water. The present analysis examined whether beliefs about tap water and the water utility were associated with drinking water preferences. Design: In a cross-sectional survey, six water beliefs were measured: trust in tap wat…
Perceptions of non-sugar sweeteners and front-of-package labels among parents of preschool and school-aged children in Brazil
Objective: To describe Brazilian parents’ perceptions of non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) in beverages consumed by children and their views for NSS front-of-package labels (FOPL). Design: A qualitative-driven mixed-methods embedded design was used. Seven focus groups with parents of children explored perceptions of NSS. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants also completed a closed-ended survey assessing familiar…
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and T2D diabetes in the Eastern Caribbean
Objective: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are implicated in the increasing risk of diabetes in the Caribbean. Few studies have examined associations between SSB consumption and diabetes in the Caribbean. Design: SSB was measured as teaspoon/d using questions from the National Cancer Institute Dietary Screener Questionnaire about intake of soda, juice and coffee/tea during the past month. Diabetes was measured using self-report, HbA1C and use of …
Forms of Community Engagement in Neighborhood Food Retail
Community engagement is well established as a key to improving public health. Prior food environment research has largely studied community engagement as an intervention component, leaving much unknown about how food retailers may already engage in this work. The purpose of this study was to explore the community engagement activities employed by neighborhood food retailers located in lower-income communities with explicit health missions to unde…
Balancing Mission and Margins
Mission-driven, independently-owned community food stores have been identified as a potential solution to improve access to healthy foods, yet to date there is limited information on what factors contribute to these stores' success and failure. Using a multiple case study approach, this study examined what makes a healthy community food store successful and identified strategies for success in seven community stores in urban areas across the Unit…
A Commentary on the Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project
In the United States, low-income, underserved rural and urban settings experience poor access to healthy, affordable food. Introducing new food outlets in these locations has shown mixed results for improving healthy food consumption. The Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project (HCSCSP) explored an alternative strategy: supporting mission-driven, locally owned, healthy community food stores to improve healthy food access. The HCSCSP used a mu…
How providing a low-cost water filter pitcher led Latino parents to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages and increase their water intake
Objective: This study sought to explain results of the Water Up!@Home randomised controlled trial where low-income parents were randomised to receive an educational intervention +a low-cost water filter pitcher or only the filter. Parents in both groups had reported statistically significant reductions in sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and increases in water intake post-intervention. Design: Qualitative explanatory in-depth interviews analysed t…
Residents’ Insights on Their Local Food Environment and Dietary Behaviors
Perceptions of local food environments and the ability of citizens to engage in participatory research may vary, even if participants share similar cultural and socioeconomic contexts. In this study, we aimed to describe participants' narratives about their local food environment in two cities in Spain. We used the participatory methodology of Photovoice to engage participants in Madrid ( n = 24) and Bilbao ( n = 17) who took and discussed photog…
Family function and eating behaviours among Hispanic/Latino youth
Objective: To elucidate mechanisms across family function, home environment and eating behaviours within sociocultural context among Hispanic youth. Design: Two models tested via path analysis (youth fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption; empty energy consumption) using data from the Study of Latino Youth (2011–2013). Setting: Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; Bronx, NY; San Diego, CA. Participants: Youth (8–16-year-olds), n 1466. Results: Youth ate 2·4 ser…
Gender-based eating norms, the family environment and food intake among Costa Rican adolescents
Objective: To examine the association between family environment variables (parenting styles, family meal atmosphere), gender-based stereotypes and food intake in Latin American adolescents. Design: Structural equation modelling applied to cross-sectional data, 2017. Setting: Urban and rural sites of San José, Costa Rica. Participants: n 813; 13–18 years old. Results: Data suggest direct associations between gender-based stereotypes and intake of…
Intersectionality between parenting styles, area of residence and gender on food group consumption among Costa Rican adolescents
Fruit and vegetable intake among participants in a District of Columbia farmers’ market incentive programme
Objective Limited research is available on whether participation in healthy food incentive programmes is associated with higher fruit and vegetable intake. The objective of the present study was to determine fruit and vegetable intake among participants in the Produce Plus Program, a farmers’ market-based healthy food incentive programme in Washington, DC, and identify demographic and behavioural factors associated with higher fruit and vegetable…
Changing Places, Changing Plates? A Binational Comparison of Barriers and Facilitators to Healthful Eating Among Central American Communities
Progress towards elimination of trans -fatty acids in foods commonly consumed in four Latin American cities
Objective To assess progress towards the elimination of trans -fatty acids (TFA) in foods after the 2008 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recommendation of virtual elimination of TFA in Latin America. Design A descriptive, comparative analysis of foods that were likely to contain TFA and were commonly consumed in four cities in Latin America. Setting San José (Costa Rica), Mexico City (Mexico), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argent…
How Latina mothers navigate a ‘food swamp’ to feed their children
Objective To understand how mothers who recently migrated from Central America to the USA feed their children in a neighbourhood saturated with unhealthful food choices (‘food swamp’) and to formulate a mother-driven plan of action to facilitate their acquisition of foods. Design/Setting/Subjects We purposively sampled mothers with children ( Results Mothers valued foods that they considered to be ‘traditional’ and ‘healthful’. They navigated the…
Transnational Mortality Comparisons Between Archipelago and Mainland Puerto Ricans
Household food insecurity as a determinant of overweight and obesity among low-income Hispanic subgroups
The burden of underweight and overweight among women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
There is a need for policies to recognize the simultaneous public health problems of under and overnutrition, and for programs to target the distinct populations that suffer from these nutrition problems in this urban area
Impact of WHO recommendations to eliminate industrial trans-fatty acids from the food supply in Latin America and the Caribbean
BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has deemed that there is enough evidence to recommend the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) from the food supply. This article evaluates government-led public health strategies in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and factors perceived to affect following WHO's recommendation to eliminate industrially produced TFA. METHODS: Descriptive, prospective multip…
Voluntary reduction of trans-fatty acids in Latin America and the Caribbean
As part of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Trans-Fat-Free Americas initiative, 12 representatives from food industries in Latin America and the Caribbean signed a declaration stating their intention to voluntarily eliminate industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) from the Americas. A year later, in order to document the extent of the voluntary reduction, each declarant was asked to describe all reformulations …
Parental feeding styles and adolescents’ healthy eating habits. Structure and correlates of a Costa Rican questionnaire
Socio-economic status and health awareness are associated with choice of cooking oil in Costa Rica
Objective To examine the socio-economic and lifestyle determinants of cooking oil choice in Costa Rica during the last decade (1994–2004). Design Cross-sectional study. Subjects (total n = 2274) belonged to the control population of a large case–control study; they were recruited yearly. Data about type of oil used for cooking, dietary intake, socio-economic and demographic characteristics were collected. Setting A dietitian visited all subjects …
Translating research into action
Mounting epidemiologic evidence worldwide has fostered policy regulation of industrially made trans fatty acids (TFA) in several developed countries. Despite country-specific evidence about the effects of TFA on cardiovascular disease in Costa Rica, policy regulation has yet to occur. This qualitative study uses a conceptual framework to identify factors that may impede or promote the process of translation of scientific evidence about TFA into p…
Household food insecurity as a determinant of overweight and obesity among low-income Hispanic subgroups
Parental feeding styles and adolescents’ healthy eating habits. Structure and correlates of a Costa Rican questionnaire
Translating research into action
Mounting epidemiologic evidence worldwide has fostered policy regulation of industrially made trans fatty acids (TFA) in several developed countries. Despite country-specific evidence about the effects of TFA on cardiovascular disease in Costa Rica, policy regulation has yet to occur. This qualitative study uses a conceptual framework to identify factors that may impede or promote the process of translation of scientific evidence about TFA into p…
Socio-economic status and health awareness are associated with choice of cooking oil in Costa Rica
Objective To examine the socio-economic and lifestyle determinants of cooking oil choice in Costa Rica during the last decade (1994–2004). Design Cross-sectional study. Subjects (total n = 2274) belonged to the control population of a large case–control study; they were recruited yearly. Data about type of oil used for cooking, dietary intake, socio-economic and demographic characteristics were collected. Setting A dietitian visited all subjects …
Translating research into action
Mounting epidemiologic evidence worldwide has fostered policy regulation of industrially made trans fatty acids (TFA) in several developed countries. Despite country-specific evidence about the effects of TFA on cardiovascular disease in Costa Rica, policy regulation has yet to occur. This qualitative study uses a conceptual framework to identify factors that may impede or promote the process of translation of scientific evidence about TFA into p…
Parental feeding styles and adolescents’ healthy eating habits. Structure and correlates of a Costa Rican questionnaire
Voluntary reduction of trans-fatty acids in Latin America and the Caribbean
As part of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Trans-Fat-Free Americas initiative, 12 representatives from food industries in Latin America and the Caribbean signed a declaration stating their intention to voluntarily eliminate industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) from the Americas. A year later, in order to document the extent of the voluntary reduction, each declarant was asked to describe all reformulations …
The burden of underweight and overweight among women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
There is a need for policies to recognize the simultaneous public health problems of under and overnutrition, and for programs to target the distinct populations that suffer from these nutrition problems in this urban area
Impact of WHO recommendations to eliminate industrial trans-fatty acids from the food supply in Latin America and the Caribbean
BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has deemed that there is enough evidence to recommend the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) from the food supply. This article evaluates government-led public health strategies in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and factors perceived to affect following WHO's recommendation to eliminate industrially produced TFA. METHODS: Descriptive, prospective multip…
Transnational Mortality Comparisons Between Archipelago and Mainland Puerto Ricans
Household food insecurity as a determinant of overweight and obesity among low-income Hispanic subgroups
Changing Places, Changing Plates? A Binational Comparison of Barriers and Facilitators to Healthful Eating Among Central American Communities
Progress towards elimination of trans -fatty acids in foods commonly consumed in four Latin American cities
Objective To assess progress towards the elimination of trans -fatty acids (TFA) in foods after the 2008 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recommendation of virtual elimination of TFA in Latin America. Design A descriptive, comparative analysis of foods that were likely to contain TFA and were commonly consumed in four cities in Latin America. Setting San José (Costa Rica), Mexico City (Mexico), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argent…
How Latina mothers navigate a ‘food swamp’ to feed their children
Objective To understand how mothers who recently migrated from Central America to the USA feed their children in a neighbourhood saturated with unhealthful food choices (‘food swamp’) and to formulate a mother-driven plan of action to facilitate their acquisition of foods. Design/Setting/Subjects We purposively sampled mothers with children ( Results Mothers valued foods that they considered to be ‘traditional’ and ‘healthful’. They navigated the…
Fruit and vegetable intake among participants in a District of Columbia farmers’ market incentive programme
Objective Limited research is available on whether participation in healthy food incentive programmes is associated with higher fruit and vegetable intake. The objective of the present study was to determine fruit and vegetable intake among participants in the Produce Plus Program, a farmers’ market-based healthy food incentive programme in Washington, DC, and identify demographic and behavioural factors associated with higher fruit and vegetable…
Residents’ Insights on Their Local Food Environment and Dietary Behaviors
Perceptions of local food environments and the ability of citizens to engage in participatory research may vary, even if participants share similar cultural and socioeconomic contexts. In this study, we aimed to describe participants' narratives about their local food environment in two cities in Spain. We used the participatory methodology of Photovoice to engage participants in Madrid ( n = 24) and Bilbao ( n = 17) who took and discussed photog…
Family function and eating behaviours among Hispanic/Latino youth
Objective: To elucidate mechanisms across family function, home environment and eating behaviours within sociocultural context among Hispanic youth. Design: Two models tested via path analysis (youth fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption; empty energy consumption) using data from the Study of Latino Youth (2011–2013). Setting: Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; Bronx, NY; San Diego, CA. Participants: Youth (8–16-year-olds), n 1466. Results: Youth ate 2·4 ser…
Gender-based eating norms, the family environment and food intake among Costa Rican adolescents
Objective: To examine the association between family environment variables (parenting styles, family meal atmosphere), gender-based stereotypes and food intake in Latin American adolescents. Design: Structural equation modelling applied to cross-sectional data, 2017. Setting: Urban and rural sites of San José, Costa Rica. Participants: n 813; 13–18 years old. Results: Data suggest direct associations between gender-based stereotypes and intake of…
Intersectionality between parenting styles, area of residence and gender on food group consumption among Costa Rican adolescents
Forms of Community Engagement in Neighborhood Food Retail
Community engagement is well established as a key to improving public health. Prior food environment research has largely studied community engagement as an intervention component, leaving much unknown about how food retailers may already engage in this work. The purpose of this study was to explore the community engagement activities employed by neighborhood food retailers located in lower-income communities with explicit health missions to unde…
Balancing Mission and Margins
Mission-driven, independently-owned community food stores have been identified as a potential solution to improve access to healthy foods, yet to date there is limited information on what factors contribute to these stores' success and failure. Using a multiple case study approach, this study examined what makes a healthy community food store successful and identified strategies for success in seven community stores in urban areas across the Unit…
A Commentary on the Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project
In the United States, low-income, underserved rural and urban settings experience poor access to healthy, affordable food. Introducing new food outlets in these locations has shown mixed results for improving healthy food consumption. The Healthy Community Stores Case Study Project (HCSCSP) explored an alternative strategy: supporting mission-driven, locally owned, healthy community food stores to improve healthy food access. The HCSCSP used a mu…
How providing a low-cost water filter pitcher led Latino parents to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages and increase their water intake
Objective: This study sought to explain results of the Water Up!@Home randomised controlled trial where low-income parents were randomised to receive an educational intervention +a low-cost water filter pitcher or only the filter. Parents in both groups had reported statistically significant reductions in sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and increases in water intake post-intervention. Design: Qualitative explanatory in-depth interviews analysed t…
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and T2D diabetes in the Eastern Caribbean
Objective: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are implicated in the increasing risk of diabetes in the Caribbean. Few studies have examined associations between SSB consumption and diabetes in the Caribbean. Design: SSB was measured as teaspoon/d using questions from the National Cancer Institute Dietary Screener Questionnaire about intake of soda, juice and coffee/tea during the past month. Diabetes was measured using self-report, HbA1C and use of …
Design of the Focus on Restaurant Engagement to Strengthen Health (FRESH) study
Background: High dietary quality can protect against diet-related chronic diseases. In the United States, racial and ethnic minorities and those with lower incomes consistently exhibit lower dietary quality. Independently-owned restaurants are a common prepared food source in minority low-income communities, but there are significant knowledge gaps on how to work with these restaurants to offer healthy food, due to underlying and dynamic complexi…
Structures and systems that promote nutrition security and climate adaptation in Puerto Rico
Objective: This study aimed to develop a shared understanding about the drivers of nutrition security in Puerto Rico (PR) from the collective perspective of multi-sector stakeholders in the agri-food, environmental and the health/disease systems. Design: A participatory community-based system dynamics approach (group model building) engaged stakeholders during one 4-h workshop March 2023 (followed by two 2.5-h member checking sessions). Setting: …
The gap between tap water beliefs and preference for drinking from the tap
Objective: Half of people living in the USA do not consume tap water. Surveys have assessed perceptions of water and water utilities, but less is known about how these perceptions relate to the preference for tap or bottled water. The present analysis examined whether beliefs about tap water and the water utility were associated with drinking water preferences. Design: In a cross-sectional survey, six water beliefs were measured: trust in tap wat…
Perceptions of non-sugar sweeteners and front-of-package labels among parents of preschool and school-aged children in Brazil
Objective: To describe Brazilian parents’ perceptions of non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) in beverages consumed by children and their views for NSS front-of-package labels (FOPL). Design: A qualitative-driven mixed-methods embedded design was used. Seven focus groups with parents of children explored perceptions of NSS. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants also completed a closed-ended survey assessing familiar…
Medicine (16 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (16 works) · Environmental health (14 works) · Geography (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Demography (7 works) · Psychology (7 works)