Health website Vida Vibrante caters to Latinos

There are myriad health and wellness websites geared toward improving the lifestyles of readers. But entrepreneur Lonnie Jones III saw one demographic he believed was sorely underserved — second-generation Latinos. So, late last year Jones launched VidaVibrante.com, a bilingual site he hopes to grow into a WebMD for the Latino community, to help Hispanics make healthier choices — from the foods they eat to the doctors they see.

The site’s main demographic are second-generation Hispanic Americans to whom the Latino culture is vitally important, but who are also very much Americans. And Jones has hired writers and editors for Vida Vibrante who understand — and are part of — that community.

The site has seen about 30,000 page views per month, and Jones points out that since launching, he’s seen a fair amount of traffic coming from outside America, too, so they may begin to focus on that demographic, too, as a result.

What’s on it

Content on the site is divided into several categories, including Healthy Living (which includes celebrity-focused stories, like a recent interview with Rita Moreno in which she talked about her own suicidal thoughts), Fitness & Food, Health Conditions A-Z, Natural Health, Women, Men and Kids & Family (which includes sections on baby care and elder care).

Diabetes is an issue of particular importance to the Latino community, says Jones, and it’s a topic he plans to focus on.

“More than half of those who have Diabetes may not even know it, so it’s important,” he says. The site offers healthy recipes — like sugar-free desserts — for that reason.

The site’s Find A Doctor feature allows users to tap into a national database of 5,000 bilingual physicians and dentists.

Some Vida Vibrante stories focus on hard news and health facts, like a current post on the high rate of breast cancer in Latina women, with tips on how to perform a self exam.

Others are lighter in tone and subject, focusing on Hispanic lifestyle (like a recent photo gallery featuring Latinas at the Academy Awards).

What’s in store

Jones says he’s particularly excited about an upcoming feature in which experts will offer live chats on a variety of topics. Users will be able to ask questions via Facebook and Twitter, too, and the conversation — in its entirety — will eventually be posted on the site.

The site started running a campaign with Colgate on April 1. As part of the campaign there are Tweet Chats, Facebook Live Chats with Experts and videos with experts stopping people on the street for a You Ask, We Answer segment.

Vida’s Helen Troncoso, fitness and nutritional doctor-expert, and Colgate experts will focuse on oral care within the Latino market.

The goal for Vida Vibrante, according to Jones, is an admirable — and ambitious — one.

“We hope to improve the health of the Latino community,” he says.

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Vida Vibrante is not the only health-focused website geared toward a minority group. Here are some others:

BlackDoctor.org

A online health resource targeted to the African American community, which VidaVibrante’s Lonnie Jones helped launch. It includes a directory of black doctors.

VidaySalud.com

A Spanish-language health and wellness site affiliated with publishing company Meredith that’s geared toward Hispanics — with a focus on parenting and pregnancy. The face of the site is Dr. Aliza A. Lifshitz.

Salud.Univision.com

This Spanish-language health-related website is part of the Spanish-language media company Univision Communications.