Designing a culturally sensitive intervention to promote healthy eating and physical activity behavior in children and their parents in rural Louisiana communities

Abstract

Rural African American children are experiencing a high prevalence of overweight and obesity. Formative research guided the design of a culturally sensitive intervention that would assist families in the Lower Mississippi Delta in adopting eating and physical activity patterns consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005 (DGA, 2005), and thereby reducing weight gain and associated risk factors for obesity‐related chronic diseases. A community advisory committee, focus groups, and data from previous research in this region contributed to information relative to ethnic/cultural characteristics, norms, values, beliefs, and behavioral patterns of the target population. Using the surface and deep‐structure framework, researchers identified content and a variety of strategies to form the culturally sensitive intervention. The main surface‐structure intervention component included modifying the family obesity prevention program, WE CAN! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition) to reflect the ethnicity, reading level, food and physical activity lifestyles of the participants. Maintaining strong families was identified as a dominant deep‐surface component. Reflections on the historical African American family provide motivation for recommended behavioral changes. Classes included in the intervention are on healthy eating and physical activity, stages of change, goal setting, self‐efficacy, and positive parental feeding methods. Demonstrations for modifying traditional and Cajun‐influenced recipes to adhere to DGA, 2005 are important elements of the intervention. Further research will examine the efficacy of using a culturally sensitive intervention to assist families in promoting healthy eating and physical activity behavior.