African-American Womens’ Eating Habits and Intention to Change: a Pilot Study

Abstract

Unhealthy diet is one of the leading contributors for chronic disease related morbidity and mortality in African-American (AA) women living in the USA. The purpose of this study was to describe eating habits and intention to change using the stages of change (SOC) model in a sample of AA women. A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted in Florida with AA women. A total of 292 AA women participated. Outcome variables were eating breakfast, foods having low to no fat, fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, foods with low to no salt, and few to no snacks. SOC was the main independent variable. Almost half (48 %) seldom added salt to meals, 45 % consumed low-fat foods, 32 % consumed breakfast every day, and 32 % consumed primarily whole grain products. Women in action and maintenance SOC were significantly more likely to eat breakfast (odds ratio (OR)=1.50, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.10-2.03), mostly or only low-fat foods (OR=4.11, 95 % CI: 2.59-6.51), ≥4 servings of fruits and vegetables (OR=1.75, 95 % CI: 1.09-2.83), and whole grain products (OR=2.05, 95 % CI: 1.42-2.97). AA women want to eat healthier but do not always practice healthy diets. Understanding SOC can be essential to develop interventions for improving AA women's eating habits.

Factors Affecting Dietary Practices in a Mississippi African American Community

“…Health promotion programs should become an integral part of academic- community collaborative agreements. Understanding the stages of change can be helpful for developing interventions for improving eating habits [ 7 ]. Building awareness of the benefits and barriers of eating healthy is a good first step to address the importance of good dietary practices in maintaining cardiovascular health.…”

“…Such an increase will draw attention to the importance of healthy eating, can lead to positive health benefits and the possibility of increasing lifespan. Research has shown that unhealthy diet is a primary risk factor for developing chronic disease that results in excessive morbidity and mortality among African Americans [ 7 ]. Other factors affect the dietary choices of African American low-income women who reside in urban communities [ 8 ].…”

“…Other factors affect the dietary choices of African American low-income women who reside in urban communities [ 8 ]. Even though they desire to eat healthier and improve their health status, many African American women do not demonstrate healthy eating practices [ 7 ]. African American men also experience excess occurrence of preventable chronic diseases that can be attributed to poor health behaviors, like dietary practices.…”

Preferred intervention strategies to improve dietary and physical activity behaviors among African‐American mothers and daughters

“…28%, respectively) (Webb et al, 2014). Skipping breakfast and frequent consumption of soda/sugar-sweetened beverages are eating patterns reported to contribute to obesity (Blondin, Anzman-Frasca, Djang, & Economos, 2016;Boggs et al, 2013).…”

Teacher and Friend Social Support: Association with Body Weight in African-American Adolescent Females

“…From adolescence to adulthood, African-American females face several challenges to eating healthy, engaging in adequate exercise, and maintaining health body weight. In all of these health behaviors, there is a greater potential role of modifying social support and implementing community-based interventions for African-American females across life span [10, 11, 33]. …”