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Abstract
African American women exhibit a greater prevalence of the diet related diseases (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and several types of cancers) than Caucasian women. The current research study was a church-based intervention designed to determine the effectiveness of a theoretically-based intervention delivered in a culturally sensitive context in promoting dietary change, weight reduction, and/or the reduction in blood pressure and body mass index among African American women in a community in Eastern North Carolina. The participants were African American women ages 40 and older. This case study focused on a culturally sensitive nutrition intervention that comprised nutrition education and scripture from the Christian Bible. This investigation determined whether the intervention reduced weight and/or blood pressure and improved the dietary patterns of the participants. A modified version of the Knowledge Diet and Blood Pressure (KDBP) questionnaire Carter-Edwards, 1998), the Religion Scale questionnaire (Bardis, 1961), and a modified version of the Index of Core Spiritual Experience (INSPIRIT) questionnaire (Kass, 1991) were utilized. Results of this intervention indicated that there was a reduction in weight, blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI) among the participants. Additionally, there was an increase in knowledge of high blood pressure and nutrition knowledge, awareness of high blood pressure, and awareness of sodium in foods. In conclusion, nutrition interventions in African American churches utilizing a culturally-sensitive approach may be effective for reducing weight, blood pressure, and lowering the body mass index among African American women. Additionally, this type of intervention can be effective in increasing knowledge of high blood pressure, awareness of high blood pressure, awareness of sodium in foods, and nutrition knowledge.
