<p class="Pa7"> <strong>Objective: </strong>The current study seeks to identify policy, system and environmental (PSE) correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among a sample of low-income African Americans in two counties in Alabama (Jefferson and Mobile) and one county in Mississippi (Forrest).</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Design: </strong>A modified Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFFS) survey, which included multi-level ecological factors, was used to evaluate nutritional habits at the pre-intervention stage of a multi-state research study. We surveyed a total of 256 participants between May and August 2015. Local community coalitions established in each of the counties were instrumental in the planning and administration of the baseline survey.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Results: </strong>Univariate analyses revealed that whether participants met the daily recommendation for fruit/vegetable consumption may be correlated with whether participants had children who attended schools/day care centers with health policies in place, received food assistance, and observed media campaigns related to nutrition. Further, results of multivariate analysis indicated that meeting fruit/vegetable recommendations was correlated with personally participating or having a family member who participated in a health policy meeting in the past two years.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest that policy-based interventions have the potential to improve health outcomes among priority populations, such as low-income African Americans, who are at high risk of developing chronic diseases.</p><p><em>Ethn Dis</em>. 2017;27(Suppl 1):355-362; doi:10.18865/ed.27.S1.355.</p>
Understanding obesity-related health disparities among low-income African Americans in the south requires further research investigating the range of factors influencing health behaviors. This study sought to examine the relationship between meeting the minimum recommendation for moderate physical activity and multilevel, including policy, systems, and environmental, strategies thought to influence health behaviors. We utilize preintervention community survey data from a sample of 256 low-income, predominantly, African Americans in 3 southeastern cities. Results indicate that individual, social, and environmental factors are related to whether participants met the recommended guidelines for physical activity and that sex predicts whether guidelines are met.
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