STRIEGEL-MOORE, RUTH H, DENISE E WILFLEY, MELISSA B CALDWELL, MARTHA L NEEDHAM AND KELLY D BROWNELL. Weightrelated attitudes and behaviors of women who diet to lose weight: A comparison of black dieters and white dieters. Obes Res. 1996;4:109-116. Obesity is a significant health problem among black women in the United States. Black women are two to three times more likely than white women to be obese. The present study sought to examine race differences in attitudes and beliefs about dieting, motivations underlying dieting efforts, and actual dieting strategies and behaviors. To achieve this aim, a subset of female survey respondents (n =324) was drawn from a pool of more than 20,000 subscribers to Consumer Reports. All survey respondents had made at least one dieting effort within 3 years of the time of the study. For this study, we used all black female respondents (n =162) and a matched sample (l.e., matched on age, educational attainment, and personal income) of white women (n =162). Black women did weigh significantly more than Caucasian women, therefore, BMI was used as a covariate in all subsequent analyses.Black and white women were significantly different in a number of domains. Compared to white women, black women experienced less social pressure about their weight, initiated dieting later in life, and were significantly less likely to diet at each developmental milestone. However, the two groups of women did not differ in reasons for undertaking their most recent dieting efforts, or in the types of weight loss strategies they had employed. Nor were there differences between the black and white women in methods for coping responses with dietary relapse or in rates of disordered eating. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for both treatment and prevention of obesity in black women.

Objective The present study examined the relationship among weight, body dissatisfaction, and self‐esteem in a large group of African American and white female dieters who were generally overweight and of middle to high socioeconomic status. Method: Subjects were participants in a survey of dieting practices undertaken by Consumer Reports magazine. Major outcome measures included the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale and an assessment of shape and weight attitudes. Results: No significant differences between African American and white women were found for body dissatisfaction, self‐esteem, discrepancies between actual and ideal weight and shape, or the relationship between self‐esteem and body dissatisfaction. Body mass index contributed less to body satisfaction scores in African American than in white women. Discussion: This study provides a comparison of African American and white women in the upper social classes, and raises the possibility that previous findings of less body concern in African American women reflect class rather than race effects. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 22: 127–130, 1997.

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Widespread dissemination of evidence-based programs for underserved populations may require non-traditional means of service provision. Collaboration with paraprofessionals from communities that are targeted for intervention holds promise as a delivery strategy that may make programs more accessible and acceptable, especially to parents living in low-income, urban neighborhoods. We describe a paraprofessional training program for individuals living in a community targeted for preventive intervention based on high levels of poverty and community violence. The design and implementation of the training program are described in the context of issues related to the use of paraprofessionals in community-based, preventive interventions with parents of young children. We also provide insight into lessons learned from a feasibility study as well as general guidelines for the development of paraprofessional training programs for delivery of evidence-based programs.KEY WORDS: paraprofessionals; training program; preventive interventions; evidence-based programs.