Abstract
Black adults in the United States are disproportionately affected by health disparities, such as overweight and obesity. Research suggests that Black adults engage in fewer health-promoting behaviors (e.g., physical activity and healthy eating) than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. These health-promoting behaviors are known protective factors against overweight/obesity and related health concerns. This community-based participatory research study employed a waitlist control design and a university–church partnership approach to test the impact of a church-based health-empowerment program designed to increase health-promoting behaviors (called health-smart behaviors) and improve health indicators (e.g., reduce weight) among overweight/obese Black adult churchgoers. Results indicate that the intervention group (n = 37) experienced a significant increase in levels of healthy eating and physical activity and a significant decrease in weight compared to the waitlist control group (n = 33). Results from this study have implications for the design of church-based, culturally sensitive health promotion interventions to increase health-smart behaviors and ultimately prevent and reduce obesity and related diseases in Black communities.
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We would like to acknowledge PepsiCo for providing the funding to support the study reported in this manuscript. PepsiCo was not involved in the aspects of designing or conducting this study and was not involved in interpreting the results of this study or in writing this manuscript.
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The study was founded by PepsiCo (grant number 0091084). PepsiCo was not involved in project design, implementation, or data analyses.
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All procedures performed in studies 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.
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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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No animal studies were carried out by the authors of this study.
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Carolyn M. Tucker, Ph.D., Guillermo M. Wippold, M.S., Jaime L. Williams, M.S.Ed., Tya M. Arthur, Ph.D., Frederic F. Desmond, Ph.D., and Karlyne C. Robinson, B.S., declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Tucker, C.M., Wippold, G.M., Williams, J.L. et al. A CBPR Study to Test the Impact of a Church-Based Health Empowerment Program on Health Behaviors and Health Outcomes of Black Adult Churchgoers. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 4, 70–78 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0203-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-015-0203-y