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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Mira L. Katz, PhD, MPH, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1700 Airport Road, CB#8140, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, (919) 966-0355, mira_katz@med.unc.edu, Paula L Griffiths, PhD, Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, United Kingdom, Margaret E. Bentley, PhD, Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill, CB 7400, McGavran Greenberg, School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, and Alice Ammerman, DrPH, RD, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1700 Airport Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Girls Rule! is a church-based, culturally appropriate obesity prevention pilot study for African American girls (age 6 - 9) and their female caregivers. To better understand the dietary habits that may be related to obesity prior to developing an intervention, formative data were collected from 12 girl-caregiver dyads.
The mean age (years) for the 12 girls was 7.8 and was 41.8 (range 30-71) for caregivers. Three of the eleven caregivers were the girl’s grandmothers. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analysis performed using NVivo.
Key issues emerging from the interviews were: 1) the cultural tradition of cooking with ham hocks/fatback was reported by six caregivers, 2) eight caregivers reported frying foods because it is easier, faster, and taste better, 3) eating out or bringing in prepared high fat content food occurred an average 1-2 times/week, 4) 10 girls reported watching television while eating meals, 5) most caregivers attempted to control food and drinks at meals, but eight did not control snacking, 6) a few girls reported sneaking snacks, 7) caregivers reported controlling snacks and sweetened drinks, however 10 girls reported this control was not successful, and 8) four girls had televisions in their bedrooms.
The findings revealed the large quantities of high fat content foods consumed, the common behavior of eating/snacking while watching television, and the difficulty caregivers have enforcing effective controls on their daughter’s dietary habits. These appear to be key areas to address in the design of an obesity prevention intervention that is culturally sensitive to this population.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to
Keywords: Obesity, African American
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.