Obesity is extremely common among African American women, and many women express interest in losing weight. To better understand current weight management practices in this population, this study measured behaviors and attitudes believed important to successful weight management. Data were obtained via telephone survey. The study involved 155 low-income African American women aged 30 to 69 identified through an urban primary care clinic. Results were compared between those women currently trying to lose weight (n = 80) and those who were not (n = 75). Those women trying to lose weight were more likely to engage in goal setting and dieting strategies categorized as planning and preparation, communication about diet, and cognitive strategies. Among those currently trying to lose weight, considerable room for improvement in the degree to which the women used the various strategies remained. Public health communications and health care provider interactions may need to deliver a broader, stronger message about healthy and successful weight management for this population.
References
1.
Agurs-Collins, T. D., Kumanyika, S. K., Ten Have, T. R., & Adams-Campbell, L. L. (1997). A randomized controlled trial of weight reduction and exercise for diabetes management in older African-American subjects. Diabetes Care, 20(10), 1503-1511.
2.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Clark, D. O. (1999). Physical activity and its correlates among urban primary care patients aged 55 years or older. Journal of Gerontology: Social Science, 54B(1), S41-S48.
4.
Clark, N. M., Janz, N. K., Becker, M. H., Schork, M. A., Wheeler, J., & Liang, J. (1992). Impact of self-management education on the functional health status of older adults with heart disease. The Gerontologist, 32(4), 438-443.
5.
Clark, N. M., & Starr-Schneidkraut, N. J. (1994). Management of asthma by patients and families. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 149(2), S54-S66, S67-S68.
6.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297-334.
7.
Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M. D., Kuczmarski, R. J., & Johnson, C. L. (1998). Overweight and obesity in the United States: Prevalence and trends, 1960-1994. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolism Disorders, 22(1), 39-47.
8.
French, S. A., Jeffery, R. W., & Forster, J. L. (1994). Dieting status and its relationship to weight, dietary intake, and physical activity changes over two years in a working population. Obesity Research, 2, 135-144.
9.
French, S. A., Jeffery, R. W., & Wing, R. R. (1994). Food intake and physical activity: A comparison of three measures of dieting. Addictive Behavior, 19(4), 401-409.
10.
Goodrick, G. K., & Foreyt, J. P. (1991). Why treatments for obesity don’t last. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 91(10), 1243-1247.
11.
Hatcher, L. A. (1994). A step by step approach to using the SAS system for factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.
12.
Kriska, A. M. (1997). Effectiveness of physical activity intervention in minority populations. In A. S. Leon (Ed.), Physical activity and cardiovascular health (pp. 218-227). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
13.
Kuczmarski, R. J., Flegal, K. M., Campbell, S. M., & Johnson, C. L. (1994). Increasing prevalence of overweight among US adults: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960 to 1991. JAMA, 272(3), 205-211.
14.
Kumanyika, S. K., Obarzanek, E., Stevens, V. J., Herbert, P. R., & Whelton, P. K. (1991). Weight-loss experience of Black and White participants in NHLBI-sponsored clinical trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53(6), S1631-S1638.
15.
Kumanyika, S. K., Wilson, J. F., & Guilford-Davenport, M. (1993). Weight-related attitudes and behaviors of Black women. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 93, 416-422.
16.
Lipton, R. B., Liao, Y., Cao, G., Cooper, R. S., & McGee, D. (1993). Determinants of incident non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus among Blacks and Whites in a national sample: The NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 138(10), 826-839.
17.
McDonald, C. J., Tierney, W. M., Overhage, J. M., Martin, D. K., & Wilson, G. A. (1992). The Regenstrief Medical Record System: 20 years of experience in hospitals, clinics, and neighborhood health centers. MD Computing, 9(4), 206-217.
18.
McNabb, W., Quinn, M., Kerver, J., Cook, S., & Karrison, T. (1997). The PATHWAYS church-based weight loss program for urban African-American women at risk for diabetes. Diabetes Care, 20(10), 1518-1523.
19.
National Institutes of Health. (1997). Sixth report on the Joint National Committee on the prevention, detection, evaluation and treatment of hypertension: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Bethesda, MD: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
20.
National Institutes of Health. (1998). Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults:Executive summary. Bethesda, MD: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
21.
Norwalk, M. P., & Wing, R. R. (1985). Changes in nutrient intake of hypertensives during a behavioral weight control program. Addictive Behavior, 10, 357-363.
22.
Nothwehr, F., Clark, N., Janz, N., Schork, M. A., & Grum, C. (1997). Development of measures for assessing asthma management behavior in adults. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, Rackham School of Graduate Studies.
23.
Saelens, B. E., Sallis, J. F., Calfas, K. J., & Sarkin, J. A. (1999). Self-management skills for physical activity during and after a physical activity intervention. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
24.
Sallis, J. F., Grossman, R. M., Pinski, R. B., Patterson, T. L., & Nader, P. R. (1987). The development of scales to measure social support for diet and exercise behaviors. Preventive Medicine, 16(6), 825-836.
25.
Sallis, J. F., Pinski, R. B., Grossman, R. M., Patterson, T. L., & Nader, P. R. (1988). The development of self-efficacy scales for health-related diet and exercise behaviors. Health Education Research, 3(3), 283-292.
26.
Tyler, D. O., Allan, J. D., & Alcozer, F. R. (1997). Weight loss methods used by African American and Euro-American women. Research in Nursing & Health, 20, 413-423.
27.
Wardle, J., Griffith, J., Johnson, F., & Rapoport, L. (2000). Intentional weight control and food choice habits in a national representative sample of adults in the UK. International Journal of Obesity, 24, 534-540.
