Childhood obesity rates in the United States are at alarming levels—and Latino children have a higher risk of becoming overweight compared to non-Latino white children. “The problem of obesity is a complex one,” says Albert Aguilera, a Ph.D. student with the Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology at UC Davis. “I am interested in learning how intervention programs affect dietary behaviors, and ultimately how they can be used to curb childhood obesity.”

Community engagement and participation are critical to the study’s success. The intervention strategy integrates nutrition, physical activity, economic components and community-based art as a way to empower families, schools and communities to respond to this growing health problem and in turn create healthier communities.

It’s a region and culture that Aguilera knows well. Born in Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico, he moved to California as a child and was raised in Turlock. He developed an interest in nutrition as an undergraduate at Fresno State University. “I became aware of how disparities in nutrition and health were at the root of many of the chronic diseases that we see today, especially in underserved and minority populations,” he says.

Aguilera feels the Nutritional Biology graduate group in particular augmented his success. For the Niños Sanos study, he works with a team of students and faculty from the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Economics Department, School of Education and Chicana/o Studies Department. “This collaboration highlights one of many great aspects of a UC Davis graduate education,” he says. “Working across disciplines has exposed me to different approaches to the problems that we face in the field of nutrition today, preparing me to take on the problems of tomorrow.”

As a part of the program’s International and Community Nutrition designated emphasis, Aguilera interacts with graduate students from countries such as Mexico, Chile, Ghana and India, giving him a global perspective of nutrition.

Aguilera received funding for his Ph.D. from the USDA-AFRI grant co-written by the Vice Chancellor of Students Affairs, Dr. Adela de la Torre, and Dr. Lucia Kaiser. “I am truly grateful for all the work they’ve done to help students like myself pursue higher education,” he says.

Vital to his personal success is finding peers with similar interests outside academia. Aguilera is involved in the UC Davis Latino Graduate Student Association, and participates in intramural sports.

“You know that feeling when you find the perfect-fitting jeans? That describes my time at UC Davis,” Aguilera says. “My experience here has been everything and more than I initially imagined. My undergraduate career inspired me to be part of a project that helped underserved communities in central California. At UC Davis, I got an opportunity to do it. I could not have asked for more.”