The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #63820

Catherine M. Waters, PhD, RN¹, LaConnie Taylor-Jones, MBA², and Francine Carter, BS¹. (1) Department of Community Health Systems, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0608, San Francisco, CA 94143-0608, 415.502.7995, cmw7757@itsa.ucsf.edu, (2) Taylor-Jones Health Education Associates, 2905 Bellflower Drive, Antioch, CA 94509

Evidence for the health benefits of regular, moderate-intensity physical activity continues to be strong, especially for women. Yet, we are still lagging behind in knowledge about how to help different groups of people become more physically active within their social context. African American women bear a disproportionate burden of the leading causes of deaths in the US, a majority of which could be minimized by healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as engaging in physical activity. Women are the primary caretakers of the family, and they set "healthy" lifestyle standards for their families. The central hypothesis of this community-based randomized controlled trial is that a culturally-focused physical activity enhancement intervention will increase physical activity behavior (kilocalories expended), and thus, improve health-related quality of life over time. The 136 overweight, physically inactive African American women, aged 18-49 years old, were sought from public/subsidized housing developments in a northern California urban city. They were randomly assigned to either the Heart-of-A-Woman physical activity intervention or a comparable attention intervention without the physical activity component. Analyses include repeated measures ANOVA to assess change in study outcomes at baseline, 3-, and 6-months for all subjects. The findings fill an existing gap by examining a socioculturally-based intervention that targets a group that is sedentary and disproportionately at risk for health problems, for which physical activity can provide benefits. In addition, a great deal was learned about the assessment of physical activity, health-related quality of life, and physical activity strategies that are effective in this group.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the successful and challenging components of a culturally-focused, community-based physical activity intervention for low-income, urban African American women.
• Describe the effects of the Heart-of-a-Woman physical activity intervention on the health outcomes of overweight, physically inactive low-income, urban African American women.

Keywords: Physical Activity, Women

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.