Hyland’s launches Web site for Latina mothers

LOS ANGELES Hyland’s on Wednesday launched ComienzosSaludables.com, a social networking, education-based Web site for Latina mothers.

Comienzos Saludables (translated Healthy Beginnings) continues Hyland’s strategy to improve the availability of, and accessibility to, important healthcare resources for a growing Hispanic population.

“Hyland’s has a longstanding commitment to providing accessible health care,” stated J.P. Borneman, chairman and CEO of Hyland’s. “With 25% of U.S. moms of Hispanic origin, that access, in this case, comes in the form of a Web site full of culturally relevant, in-language educational material for Hispanic families. Our goal is to empower pre- and post-natal Hispanic mothers with information and a community of support as they strive to give their babies the very healthiest start in life.”

The new site offers Hispanic mothers a fully bilingual Spanish/English community to assist with information on pregnancy, infant care, raising a family, healthy lifestyle and treating a family’s health issues with natural medicines.

Addressing the needs of its Hispanic consumer is not a new initiative at Hyland’s. Already, the company has made packaging on 22 products Spanish/English bilingual, developed a baby development calendar in Spanish and sponsored a community health worker program called Salud con Hyland’s.

Studies show that a growing number of Hispanics are online and seeking information in their own language. Specifically, according to eMarketer, 23 million U.S. Hispanics were online in 2008, and that number is expected to surpass 29 million by 2012. Also, according to AOL/Roper Public Affairs Hispanic Cyberstudy 2005, Spanish-language content is important to 75% of Hispanic Web users.

With 70% of Latina mothers under the age of 30, and with an increasing number of Hispanics shown to have a natural affinity for online social networking, Hyland’s expects tremendous response from Latina mothers to its new site. Free membership to Comienzos Saludables will provide access to interactive community tools, including community forums, photo galleries, blogs, personal profile pages, more than 400 articles on family health and lifestyle topics and monthly newsletters.