Developing a "tailor-made" precision lifestyle medicine intervention for weight control among middle-aged latino men

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.