Tenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the U.S with African Americans (AAs) disproportionately affected. Overweight/obesity is a key risk factor for CVD, possibly influenced by psychosocial stressors and depression in AAs. This paper examines weight-related outcomes longitudinally (baseline, 6, 18 and 24 mo.) for AA participants in a heart health intervention in North Florida, USA. Specifically, changes in body mass index (BMI) and circumferences (waist, hip, abdomen, waist/hip ratio [WHR]) were investigated with social stress, depression, and other socio-demographic characteristics as co-variates. AAs (>45 years, n=104) from six churches (three treatment, three comparison) participated in the 18-month intervention with comparison churches receiving the intervention on a delayed basis. Bivariate analyses at baseline showed significant positive relationships between age and abdomen (p=0.02), waist (p=0.04), hip (p=0.002), and WHR (p=0.02); and depression, BMI (p<0.01) and abdomen (p=0.03). Results of repeated measures ANOVA showed significant time effects for abdomen (p<0.05) with decreases in both treatment and comparison groups across time points and with the effect for depression remaining significant in the model (p=0.006). Post-hoc analyses revealed that the time x treatment effect was significant between time 1 (t1) and t4 (p=0.05). No time effects were noted for BMI, waist, hip or WHR yet each model showed decreases for these variables for both groups between t1 and t3. Findings suggest that weight-related outcomes of older AAs can be improved and sustained using a heart health intervention and that depression remains an underlying factor influencing health in this population.