Project Description Narrative:
Wisconsin spends an excess of $1.5 billion for obesity-related medical care annually. The problem of obesity is more prevalent among minority populations in the state, with rates of overweight and obesity among African-Americans reported at approximately 67% compared with 63% of whites. Almost 41% of African-American women are obese and another 27.7% are overweight, the highest rate of obesity of any gender/minority group in Wisconsin.
This higher prevalence of obesity is associated with higher proportions of related conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. A random sample of medical charts of women who attend the Marquette University Clinic for Woman and Children echoed this data, indicating a high prevalence of hypertension and diabetes among the group.
Project partners aim to better support African-American women who are obese by bringing together partners from a targeted neighborhood to promote healthy body weight among African-American females through a community-based participatory model, aiming to determine if a motivational interviewing technique using a peer community health advisor can improve nutritional intake, increase physical activity, and reduce body weight among women in the target population.
Community partners: Bread of Healing Clinic
Additional MCW academic partners: Zeno Franco, PhD, Family and Community Medicine; David Nelson, PhD, MS, Family and Community Medicine