Healthy Bodies, Healthy Souls: Design of a church‐based environmental intervention program to prevent diabetes risk behaviors

Abstract

Churches have great potential to engage communities and sustain health interventions. We are conducting a diabetes risk behavior intervention trial in 12 African American churches in Baltimore city, divided into 4 cohorts (3 churches/cohort) matched by size and denomination. One church in each cohort is randomly selected to receive a workshop intervention (American Diabetes Association's Project POWER), while a second church receives an environmentally‐enhanced intervention plus workshop intervention, and a third church is comparison. The enhanced program includes changes to church food and physical activity environments. The program will be evaluated in 375 non‐diabetic adults, using psychosocial, behavioral (diet, physical activity) and health (BMI, blood pressure, waist circumference) measures. Initial baseline data (n=138) show that 68% are female, mean age 48 years. Over 78% of respondents have a high school degree, and 73% have household incomes >$30,000. 32.4% of the sample is obese and 51.8% are overweight. 44.2% are prehypertensive and 24.6% are hypertensive. Mean waist circumference is 100.8cm (SD: 16.9) for men and 97.2cm (SD: 18.2) for women, which indicate that 40.9% of men and 69.1% of women at high risk for heart disease. This study will test church‐specific interventions to reduce diabetes risk behaviors and improve health measures in a high‐risk minority population.Grant Funding Source: American Diabetes Association Clinical Research Award