Skip to main content

Perception of Obesity in African-American and Arab-American Minority Groups

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities volume 3, pages 160–167 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Effectiveness of health education programs and interventions, designed to improve obesity rates, may vary according to perceptions of health within cultural groups.

Method

A qualitative approach was used. Two minority cultural groups (Arab-American and African-American) living in the same county were studied to compare perceptions of health, nutrition, and obesity and subsequent health behaviors.

Results

Control, expectations, bias, acceptance, and access were the five themes identified. Arab-Americans that had lower weights, lower prevalence of chronic diseases, expected healthy weights, reported age and gender bias related to being overweight were not as accepting of being overweight and did not report difficulties in accessing healthy food choices compared to their African-American counterparts.

Conclusions

Health interventions aimed at reducing obesity rates and related chronic diseases should be culturally specific and aimed at changing expected and accepted cultural norms. Cultural group’s void of certain disease states should be studied and used as models to ameliorate the problem in other cultures. Changing health behaviors within a certain cultural group may produce better outcomes when initiated from a member of that same group. The impact of economic and environmental factors on health behaviors must also be considered.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

  1. Keegan TM, Hurley S, Goldberg D, Nelson DO, Reynolds P, Bernstein L, et al. The association between neighborhood characteristics and body size and physical activity in the California teachers study cohort. Am J Public Health. 2012: 689–697.

  2. Liao Y, Bang D, Cosgrove S, Dulin R, Harris Z, Stewart A, et al. Surveillance of health status in minority communities—racial and ethnic approaches to community health across the U.S. (REACH U.S) Risk Factor Survey, United States 2009. Division of Adult and Community Health, Washington: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2011.

  3. Stevens C. Obesity prevention interventions for middle school-age children of ethnic minority: a review of the literature. J Spec in Pediatr Nurs. 2010: 233–243.

  4. CDC. Overweight and Obesity. In: Centers for disease control and prevention. 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/facts.html.

  5. Freedman DS, Kettle KL, Serdula MK, Ogden CL, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, et al. Racial differences in the tracking of childhood BMI to adulthood. Obesity Res. 2005;13:928–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Menifield CE, Doty N, Fletcher A. Obesity in America. ABNF J. 2008;19:83–8.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Weiss EC, Galuska DA, Khan LK, Serdula MK. Weight-control practices among U.S. adults. Am J Prev Med. 2006;31:18–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Siceloff ER, Coulon SM, Wilson DK. Physical activity is a mediator linking neighborhood environmental supports and obesity in African Americans in the PATH trial. Health Psychol. 2014:481–489.

  9. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Aim for a healthy weight. NIH, National Institutes of Health; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. 2005.

  10. Weight Watchers Research Department. New government-funded study shows that group support works for weight loss. In: Weight Watchers. 2013. http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=217371&sc=808.

  11. Portero A. Weight loss program could save medicare billions. In: Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. 2013. http://www.fightchronicdisease.org/media-center/news/weight-loss-program-could-save-medicare-billions-study.

  12. Gordon-Larsenf P, Nelson MC, Page P, Popkin BM. Inequality in the built environment underlies key health disparities in physical activity and obesity. Pediatrics. 2006;117:417–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kumanyika SK, Whitt-Glover MC, Gary TL, Prewitt TE, Odoms-Young AM, Banks-Wallace J, et al. Expanding the obesity research paradigm to reach African American communities. In: Preventing Chronic Diseases; Public Health Research, Practice & Policies. 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/.

  14. Sarsour L, Tong VS, Jaber O, Talbi M, Julliard K. Health assessment of the Arab American community in southwest Brooklyn. J Community Health. 2010;35:653–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Howie L. Narrative enquiry and health research. In: Liamputtong P, editor. Research methods for evidence-based practice. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press; 2010. p. 77–90.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Fossey E, Harvey C, McDermott F, Davidson L. Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2002;36:717–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Snelgrove S. Conducting qualitative longitudinal research using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Nurs Res. 2014;22:20–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. de la Cruz P. The Arab Population: 2000. In: U.S. Census Bureau. 2003. http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-23.pdf

  19. IDcide. Michigan African American Percentage. In: Michigan Profile. 2014. http://www.idcide.com/lists/mi/on-population-african-american-percentage.htm.

  20. Polkinghorne DE. In: Hatch JA, Wisniewski R, editors. Narrative configuration in qualitative research, in life history and narrative. Abingdon: Routledge Falmer Press; 1995. p. 5–24.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Shenton AK. Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Educ Inf. 2004;22:63–75.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ard JD, Rosati R, Oddone EZ. Culturally-sensitive weight loss program produces significant reduction in weight, blood pressure and cholesterol in eight weeks. J Natl Med Assoc. 2000;92:515–23.

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Janicke DM, Gray WN, Mathews AE, Simon SL, Lim C, Dumont-Driscoll M, et al. A pilot study examining a group-based behavioral family intervention for obese children enrolled in medicaid: differential outcomes by race. Child Health Care. 2011;40:212–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Black JL, Macinko J. Neighborhoods and obesity. Nutr Rev. 2008;1:2–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Zenk SN, Schulz AJ, Hollis-Neely T, Campbell RT, Holmes N, Watkins G, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake in African Americans income and store characteristics. Am J Prev Med. 2005;1:1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The study was not externally funded. No procedures were performed throughout this study; however, the interview process involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Participants were informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time. No identifying information about individual participants was collected.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest relating to the study.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. University of Detroit Mercy, College of Health Professions, 4001 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit, MI, 48221, USA

    Molly L. McClelland & Carmon V. N. Weekes

  2. Beaumont Health Hospital (Medical ICU), Wayne MI & Part-Time Lecturer (Clinical Instructor) Eastern Michigan University, 33155 Venoy Rd., Ypsilanti, MI, USA

    Hussein Bazzi

  3. St. John Hospital & Medical Center, 22101 Moross Rd., Detroit, MI, 48236, USA

    Joshua Warwinsky

  4. Oakland University, 2200 North Squirrel Road, Rochester, MI, 48309, USA

    Wassim Abouarabi

  5. DaVita Kresge Dialysis Center, 4145 Cass Ave., Detroit, MI, 48301-1707, USA

    Felicia Snell

  6. CPR Home Care, 7511 Orchard Ave., Dearborn, MI, USA

    Tarick Salamey

Authors
  1. Molly L. McClelland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carmon V. N. Weekes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hussein Bazzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joshua Warwinsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wassim Abouarabi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Felicia Snell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Tarick Salamey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Molly L. McClelland.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 20 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

McClelland, M.L., Weekes, C.V.N., Bazzi, H. et al. Perception of Obesity in African-American and Arab-American Minority Groups. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 3, 160–167 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0127-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0127-6

Keywords

  • Obesity
  • Arab-American
  • African-American
  • Health perceptions
  • Health behaviors