Community and family support for obesity prevention behaviors among Latinos and African Americans

AIMS: African Americans and Latinos are at disproportionately high risk for obesity, and for the chronic conditions and diseases for which obesity is a key factor. Healthy behaviors like regular exercise and a healthy diet rich are key to maintaining a healthy weight. While neighborhood characteristics can constrain individuals' abilities to engage in healthy behaviors, interpersonal (e.g., family and neighbors) and community-level communication resources could aid in reducing barriers to healthy living. In this paper, we employ communication infrastructure theory to explore how community and interpersonal connections relate to African Americans' and Latinos' exercise and healthy eating practices. METHODS: A random digit dial survey of 304 Latino and 294 African Americans living in South Los Angeles was conducted in the preferred language of the respondent (English or Spanish). Respondents were mailed a gift card for participating. RESULTS: Regression analyses revealed that connections to the neighborhood storytelling network (comprised of measures of amount of interpersonal discussion about the neighborhood, time spent with local/ethnic media, and involvement in community organizations), neighbor-to-neighbor social support, and family interaction all predict residents' regular exercise; family interaction has the strongest impact on the likelihood of exercising regularly. For females and Latinos, family interaction is the only independent variable that predicted residents' daily intake of fruits and vegetables. None of the independent variables influenced fruit and vegetable consumption for men and African Americans. Implications for health communication outreach to increase these healthy behaviors will be discussed.