Abstract
African Americans continue to die disproportionately from chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Eating fruits and vegetables have been shown to reduce those risks yet little is known about the health attitudes of African American adolescents and their eating habits and engagement in physical activity. A survey was administered to African American adolescents in a Midwestern city to determine the health attitudes and behaviors related to dietary intake and physical activity. The total sample consisted of 448 African American adolescents aged 12–17. Forty-seven percent were males and 53% were females. The findings show that African American adolescents did have poor fruit and vegetable intake and fairly low rates of exercise. The study also showed there were statistically significant differences between males and females regarding eating a balanced diet, reducing the amount of fat in diets and engaging in physical activity. African American females were more likely to eat a balanced diet and have reduced the fat in their diets than males but African American males were more likely to engage in physical activity in the past 7 days than females. Findings suggest more efforts are needed to curb the poor eating and exercising habits of African American adolescents if a reduction in chronic disease is to be met for this population.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Steptoe, A., Perkins-Porras, L., McKay, C., Rink, E., Hilton, S., & Cappuccio, F. (2003). Psychological factors associated with fruit and vegetable intake and with biomarkers in adults from a low-income neighborhood. Health Psychology, 22, 148–155.
Molaison, E., Connell, C., Stuff, J., Yadrick, M., & Bogle, M. (2005). Influences on fruit and vegetable consumption by low-income Black American adolescents. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 37, 246–251.
Frenn, M., Malin, S., Villarruel, A., Slaikeu, K., McCarthy, S., Freeman, J., & Nee, E. (2005). Determinants of physical activity and low-fat diet among low income African American and Hispanic middle school students. Public Health Nursing, 22, 89–97.
Ma, J., Betts, N., Horacek, T., Georgiou, C., & White, A. (2002). Assessing stages of change for fruit and vegetable intake in your adults: A combination of traditional staging algorithms and food frequency questionnaires, 18, 224–236.
Cohall, A., & Bannister, H. (2001). The health status of children and adolescents. In S. Taylor & R. Braithwaite (Eds.), Health issues in the black community (pp. 13–43). New York: Jossey-Bass.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2005. (2006). MMWR 55, 1–112.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2010. (2000). Understanding and Improving Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Prochaska, J., & DiClementae, C., Norcross, J. (1992). In search of how people change. American Psychologist, 47, 1102–114.
Greene, G. W., Rossi, S. R., Rossi, J. S. et al. (2004). Differences in psychosocial variables by stage of change for fruits and vegetables in older adults. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 104, 1236–1243.
Glanz, K., Patterson, R. E., Kristal, A. R. et al. (1994). Stages of Change in adopting healthy diets: fat, fiber, and correlates of nutrient intake. Health Education Quarterly, 21, 499–531.
Prochaska, J., & DiClemente, C. (1983). Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: toward an integrative model of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 390–395.
Di Noia, J., Schinke, S., Prochaska, J., & Contento, I. (2006). Application of the transtheoretical model to fruit and vegetable consumption among economically disadvantaged African American adolescents: Preliminary findings. American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 342–348.
Resincow, K., Yaroch, A., Davis, A., Wang, D., Carter, S., Slaughter, L., Coleman, D., & Baranowski, T. (2000). GO Girls!: Results from a nutrition and physical activity program for low-income overweight African American Adolescent females. Health Education Behavior, 27, 616–631.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2002). Bureau of the Census. Census Data Center Census (2000) accessed August 2002. Available at http://www.census.gov.
Jemmont, J., Jemmont, L., & Fong, T. (1992). Reductions in HIV risk associated sexual behaviors among Black male adolescents. Effects of an AIDS prevention intervention. American Journal of Public Health, 82, 372–377.
Belloc, N.D., & Breslow, L. (1972). Relationship of physical health status and family practices. Preventive Medicine, 1, 409–421.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lewis-Moss, R.K., Paschal, A., Redmond, M. et al. Health Attitudes and Behaviors of African American Adolescents. J Community Health 33, 351–356 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-008-9101-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-008-9101-0