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Nutrition knowledge and body mass index among urban churchgoing African Americans
Author(s) -
Diehl Alica,
Summers Amber,
Martins Paula,
Surkan Pamela,
Gittelsohn Joel
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.971.34
Subject(s) - overweight , body mass index , medicine , obesity , population , national health and nutrition examination survey , gerontology , demography , environmental health , sociology
Healthy Bodies, Healthy Souls is a church‐based health promotion program, which aims to reduce diabetes risk in urban Af Crican Americans. Research to understand the factors that cause obesity, a primary risk factor for diabetes, in this population is needed to develop effective programs. We assessed nutrition knowledge and BMI in a sample of 138 African American churchgoers (94 females) in Baltimore City. The population had a mean age of 48 (SD= 15) and 88.5% had greater than a 12th grade level of education. Among the 138 participants [mean (SD) BMI 31.2 (6.6)], 32.4% (n= 45) were overweight (BMI: 25 – 29.9) and 51.8% (n= 72) were obese (BMI: >30). We calculated a nutrition knowledge score from 16 questions (α= 0.486), including 3 requiring interpretation of the Nutrition Facts label. A moderate nutrition knowledge was demonstrated [n=133, mean (SD) score 10.4 (2.2), range 5.0–15.0]. Results indicated no correlation between nutrition knowledge score and BMI overall (r=−0.034, p=0.347). There was no significant difference in nutrition knowledge of normal weight versus obese participants. Similarly, there was no significant difference in nutrition knowledge of overweight individuals versus obese individuals. These findings suggest that in our population of urban African American churchgoers, lack of nutrition knowledge may not be the most significant factor contributing to high BMI. Grant Funding Source : American Diabetes Association