UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

The Healthy Living Through Education (HLTE) project was an American Cancer Society- funded, community-focused, small-group educational intervention to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among women in public housing communities in Washington, D.C. Participants were African-American women ages 20 to 50, and 49% were obese, having a body mass index (BMI) > 30. Here, we focus specifically on how body size was related to participation and success in this program.

Methods:

Participants attended seven 90-minute sessions held in community centers, and participated in small-group skill-building dietary activities, led by a professional nutritionist. Face-to-face interviewer-administrated questionnaires and 3 non-consecutive 24-hour recalls were collected at enrollment, post-intervention, and 4 month follow-up. Data analysis compared baseline psychosocial characteristics and dietary patterns between obese and non-obese women. Multilevel random effects models were used to measure change in diet at post and long-term follow-up for obese and non-obese high attenders.

Results:

At baseline, obese participants had greater psychosocial barriers to dietary change, but also greater commitment to the program, and better attendance patterns than non-obese women. High attending obese women showed greatest dietary improvement post intervention (+1.1 servings of fruits and vegetables, and – 350 calories), but only non-obese women showed dietary improvement at long-term follow-up (-600 calories). Results suggest that, within low resource communities, interventions to change individual dietary elements such as increasing fruits and vegetables should be tailored to overall food consumption patterns, but also to participant body size and related psychosocial needs.