A Faith-Integrated Physical Activity Intervention and Cardiometabolic Risk in African American Women

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose This study aimed to determine the effects of a 10-month secular (SEC) versus faith-integrated (FI) community-based physical activity (PA) intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors in low active, African American women. Methods Participants (age, 55.4 ± 11.6 yr; body mass index [BMI], 36.0 ± 7.9 kg·m−2; average baseline steps per day, 3807 ± 1250) from a larger study (n = 418) participated in a substudy to measure cardiometabolic disease indicators (primary outcomes) and PA (secondary outcomes) pre- and postintervention (SEC, n = 42; FI, n = 43). Height, weight, waist and hip circumferences, resting blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, average steps per day, sedentary behavior, light-intensity physical activity, and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity were acquired at baseline and 10 months. Multivariate generalized linear mixed models that included churches as a random effect were used to compare mean changes in outcomes at 10 months between the two study groups (α = 0.05). Results The FI group showed significant time effects for weight (93.4 ± 2.4 to 92.2 ± 2.3 kg), BMI (35.7 ± 1.0 to 35.3 ± 1.0 kg·m−2), and waist circumference (106.9 ± 2.2 to 103.8 ± 2.5 cm), whereas the SEC group had a significant time effect for hip circumference (121.6 ± 1.9 to 119.9 ± 1.7 cm). There were no time effects in either group for blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, steps per day, sedentary time, or moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity. FI significantly decreased light-intensity physical activity in both 1-min activity bouts (641 ± 13 to 588 ± 16 min·d−1) and 10-min bouts (536 ± 11 to 479 ± 15 min·d−1). There were no significant differences between SEC and FI for any variable. Conclusions The improvements in body weight, BMI, and waist circumference shown after the FI intervention could have long-term implications on cardiometabolic health, particularly if exercise is continued. Further research is needed to examine the effects of culturally relevant interventions on chronic disease indicators in African American women, particularly those established as high risk for cardiometabolic disease. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00991731