Journal article
Expanding the Obesity Research Paradigm to Reach African American Communities
Preventing chronic disease, v 4(4), pp A112-A112
15 Sep 2007
PMID: 17875256
Abstract
Obesity is more prevalent among African Americans and other racial and ethnic minority populations than among whites. The behaviors that determine weight status are embedded in the core social and cultural processes and environments of day-to-day life in these populations. Therefore, identifying effective, sustainable solutions to obesity requires an ecological model that is inclusive of relevant contextual variables. Race and ethnicity are potent stratification variables in U.S. society and strongly influence life contexts, including many aspects that relate to eating and physical activity behaviors. This article describes a synthesis initiated by the African American Collaborative Obesity Research Network (AACORN) to build and broaden the obesity research paradigm. The focus is on African Americans, but the expanded paradigm has broader implications and may apply to other populations of color. The synthesis involves both community and researcher perspectives, drawing on and integrating insights from an expanded set of knowledge domains to promote a deeper understanding of relevant contexts. To augment the traditional, biomedical focus on energy balance, the expanded paradigm includes insights from family sociology, literature, philosophy, transcultural psychology, marketing, economics, and studies of the built environment. We also emphasize the need for more attention to tensions that may affect African American or other researchers who identify or are identified as members of the communities they study. This expanded paradigm, for which development is ongoing, poses new challenges for researchers who focus on obesity and obesity-related health disparities but also promises discovery of new directions that can lead to new solutions.
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Details
- Title
- Expanding the Obesity Research Paradigm to Reach African American Communities
- Creators
- Shiriki Kumanyika - University of PennsylvaniaMelicia C. Whitt-Glover - Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston–Salem, North CarolinaTiffany L. Gary - Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MarylandT. Elaine Prewitt - Department of Health Policy and Management, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, ArkansasAngela M. Odoms-Young - Public Health and Health Education, School of Allied Health, College of Health and Human Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IllinoisJoanne Banks-Wallace - School of Nursing and Program in Women and Gender Studies, University of Missouri, Columbia, MissouriBettina M. Beech - Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Tennessee (current affiliation, Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee)Chanita Hughes-Halbert - Department of Psychiatry and Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaNjeri Karanja - Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, OregonKristie J. Lancaster - Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, New York University, New York, New YorkCarmen D. Samuel-Hodge - Nutrition Department, Schools of Public Health and Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Publication Details
- Preventing chronic disease, v 4(4), pp A112-A112
- Publisher
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health; Community Health and Prevention
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84978381242
- Other Identifier
- 991019312323704721