Neighborhood Social Predictors of Weight-related Measures in Underserved African-Americans in the PATH Trial

Abstract

<p class="Default"> </p><p>African Americans have the highest rate of obesity in the United States relative to other ethnic minority groups. Bioecologi­cal factors including neighborhood social and physical environmental variables may be important predictors of weight-related measures specifically body mass index (BMI) in African American adults. Baseline data from the Positive Action for Today’s Health (PATH) trial were collected from 417 African American adults. Overall a multiple regression model for BMI was significant, showing positive associations with average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (B =-.21, <em>P</em><.01) and neighbor­hood social interaction (B =-.13, <em>P</em><.01). Consistent with previous literature, results show that neighborhood social interac­tion was associated with healthier BMI, highlighting it as a potential critical factor for future interventions in underserved, African American communities. <em>Ethn Dis. </em>2015; 25(4):405-412; doi:10.18865/ed.25.4.405</p>

APOL1 renal risk variants are associated with obesity and body composition in African ancestry adults

“…It is important to note that this association neither contradicts nor minimizes the known social determinants of racial disparities in obesity, including access to healthy food, economic disparities, poverty and stress. [9][10][11] Additional research is needed to explore the interactions of APOL1 risk variants with clinical, behavioral and environmental factors that also contribute to obesity in AAs, as race is a social construct, but ancestry has biological underpinnings.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Obesity therefore represents a "common source" epidemic where exposure is widespread and the outcome is mediated by social, environmental, lifestyle and biological/ genomic factors. [9][10][11] Twin and family studies estimate that 40% to 70% of obesity risk is heritable. [12] Large-scale genomewide association studies have been performed in predominantly European American (EA) populations.…”

“…Obesity and its adverse health consequences are now established as world-wide epidemics [2–8] . Obesity therefore represents a “common source” epidemic where exposure is widespread and the outcome is mediated by social, environmental, lifestyle and biological/genomic factors [9–11] . Twin and family studies estimate that 40% to 70% of obesity risk is heritable [12] .…”

Correlates of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity and Exercise Motivation in Underserved African American Men

“…The 5-item Friend Support for Exercise Habits scale was used to assess friend support for exercise (Sallis et al, 1987). Evidence indicates the scale has acceptable reliability among Black adults (McDaniel, Wilson, Coulon, Hand, & Siceloff, 2015; Siceloff, Coulon, & Wilson, 2014). Questions assessed how often friends provided exercise support over the past 3 months.…”

“…Subscales used in this analysis include places for walking and cycling, safety from crime, and neighborhood satisfaction. Evidence indicates these subscales have acceptable reliability among Black adults (McDaniel et al, 2015; Trumpeter & Wilson, 2014). Response options for questions in each subscale were rated on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree except for neighborhood satisfaction in which options ranged from strongly dissatisfied to strongly satisfied on a 5-point scale.…”