Abstract
Learning outcomeTo assess how culture and community impact food choices, attitudes towards weight, and dietary intake among African Americans.TextThe purpose of this project was to explore how culture and community impact food choices, attitudes towards weight, and dietary intake among African Americans. Six focus groups were conducted with African American males and females. The data were analyzed using the PEN-3 model, a theoretical model that centralizes culture as the primary reason for health behavior and the primary consideration for health promotion and disease prevention programs. Thematic analysis was used to search and identify the data for common trends, themes, and patterns threads throughout the data. Inter-coder reliability was 0.86. Women were more interested than their male counterparts in improving their eating habits. The majority of women expressed concerns about their weight. They didn’t want to lose weight and “look like white women,” but they wanted to be “muscular and shapely.” There was a general perception that “eating healthfully” meant giving up part of their cultural heritage and trying to conform to the dominant culture. Friends and relatives usually are not supportive of dietary changes. Barriers to eating a healthful diet also included no sense of urgency, the social and cultural symbolism of certain foods, the poor taste of “healthy” foods, the expense of “healthy” foods, and lack of information. The findings suggest that African Americans still need information on basic nutrition topics such as serving sizes and reading food labels. The findings also suggest that programs and materials should be specifically developed for churches, neighborhood grocery stores, and local restaurants.Funding disclosureFlorida Education Fund Learning outcomeTo assess how culture and community impact food choices, attitudes towards weight, and dietary intake among African Americans. To assess how culture and community impact food choices, attitudes towards weight, and dietary intake among African Americans. TextThe purpose of this project was to explore how culture and community impact food choices, attitudes towards weight, and dietary intake among African Americans. Six focus groups were conducted with African American males and females. The data were analyzed using the PEN-3 model, a theoretical model that centralizes culture as the primary reason for health behavior and the primary consideration for health promotion and disease prevention programs. Thematic analysis was used to search and identify the data for common trends, themes, and patterns threads throughout the data. Inter-coder reliability was 0.86. Women were more interested than their male counterparts in improving their eating habits. The majority of women expressed concerns about their weight. They didn’t want to lose weight and “look like white women,” but they wanted to be “muscular and shapely.” There was a general perception that “eating healthfully” meant giving up part of their cultural heritage and trying to conform to the dominant culture. Friends and relatives usually are not supportive of dietary changes. Barriers to eating a healthful diet also included no sense of urgency, the social and cultural symbolism of certain foods, the poor taste of “healthy” foods, the expense of “healthy” foods, and lack of information. The findings suggest that African Americans still need information on basic nutrition topics such as serving sizes and reading food labels. The findings also suggest that programs and materials should be specifically developed for churches, neighborhood grocery stores, and local restaurants. The purpose of this project was to explore how culture and community impact food choices, attitudes towards weight, and dietary intake among African Americans. Six focus groups were conducted with African American males and females. The data were analyzed using the PEN-3 model, a theoretical model that centralizes culture as the primary reason for health behavior and the primary consideration for health promotion and disease prevention programs. Thematic analysis was used to search and identify the data for common trends, themes, and patterns threads throughout the data. Inter-coder reliability was 0.86. Women were more interested than their male counterparts in improving their eating habits. The majority of women expressed concerns about their weight. They didn’t want to lose weight and “look like white women,” but they wanted to be “muscular and shapely.” There was a general perception that “eating healthfully” meant giving up part of their cultural heritage and trying to conform to the dominant culture. Friends and relatives usually are not supportive of dietary changes. Barriers to eating a healthful diet also included no sense of urgency, the social and cultural symbolism of certain foods, the poor taste of “healthy” foods, the expense of “healthy” foods, and lack of information. The findings suggest that African Americans still need information on basic nutrition topics such as serving sizes and reading food labels. The findings also suggest that programs and materials should be specifically developed for churches, neighborhood grocery stores, and local restaurants. Funding disclosureFlorida Education Fund
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