240249 How Changes in Diet and Physical Activity Affect Weight Loss and Glycemic Control?

Monday, October 31, 2011: 3:30 PM

Xiaohui Wang, PhD , Department of Mathematics, The University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX
Cynthia J. Brown, PhD , Department of Economics and Finance, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX
José A. Pagán, PhD , Department of Health Management and Policy, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Marvelia Balboa , Department of Mathematics, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, TX
Objectives: Diet and physical activity are two modifiable factors in improving risk factors of chronic diseases such as body weight and glycemic level. Features of educational prevention programs are controllable via their design. We examined how these factors were related to success in achieving weight loss and glycemic control in Alliance for a Healthy Border, a chronic disease prevention program with pre-post-post evaluations through 12 federally qualified community health centers serving primarily Hispanics in communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Methods: Logistic regressions were employed for dependent variables, weight loss and glycemic control success, at two time points: program-end and post-six-month. Socio-demographic and baseline health condition factors were also included in the model.

Results: Factors affecting weight loss success were gender, age, employment status, income, insurance, diabetes, baseline BMI, smoking status, family history of diabetes, session type, program duration and physical activity changes. Factors affecting achievement of glycemic success included gender, age, employment status, diabetes, baseline BMI, family history of diabetes, program duration and physical activity changes.

Conclusions: Out of four features of different programs, session type and program duration were associated with success. Within a relative short period, physical activity improvements had a stronger effect on weight reduction and glycemic success than dietary habits improvements for border Hispanic population. In addition to socio-demographic factors, participants with better baseline health conditions, including participants without diabetes, normal BMI, former smokers, and without a family history of diabetes, were more likely to achieve success after the interventions.

Learning Areas:
Biostatistics, economics

Learning Objectives:
• Illustrate the importance of diet and physical activity to chronic diseases in term of weight loss and glycemic control • Examine what are the determines of success for a prevention education program with various practices • Identify effective and culture-sensitive educational prevention practices for border Hispanic population

Keywords: Hispanic, Public Health Education and Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I performed the statistical analysis for this project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.