How effective are culturally adapted obesity prevention interventions within the African American youth population?

Background.  Obesity rates for African American (AA) children (aged 6-17 years old) continue to escalate and are higher than those of Caucasian American children of the same age group (25.7% vs 14.6% respectively). Although obesity prevention programs have been implemented in schools and communities, disparities exist between racial groups. It is also unclear if any have been culturally adapted for AA youth. Purpose: To examine published reports of school- and community- based obesity prevention interventions for: 1) effectiveness with AA youth and 2) efforts to culturally adapt interventions for AA youth.

Methodology.  A systematic review of electronic databases ( MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, and PubMed) was conducted for the years 2000-2013 to identify culturally adapted school- and community-based obesity interventions tailored to African American youth. The PEN-3 model provides the framework for this review. The  model is based on  African American culture and is utilized to guide the planning, implementation and evaluation of health promotion interventions.  The PEN-3 model will be applied to examine cultural appropriateness of interventions within each of the three domains of the PEN-3 model ( cultural identity; cultural empowerment; and relationship and expectations).Fifteen studies met inclusion criteria for the review. 

Results.  Preliminary findings indicate that there are few studies that demonstrate consistency in the cultural adaptation in the design and/or implementation of obesity prevention interventions.  

Conclusions. We recommend feasibility and efficacy studies for  culturally adapted obesity prevention interventions that have been guided by a cultural-based framework/model.