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Assessing Change in Dietary-Fat Behaviors in a Weight-Loss Program for African Americans: A Potential Short Method

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Abstract

Change in dietary-fat behaviors was assessed in 95 African-American women in a culturally adapted weight-management program using the SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire. The hypothesis was that there would be no practical difference in ability to track dietary-fat behaviors related to weight change when using only 30 items from the SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire (about fat consumption frequency) compared to using all 91 items from the SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire (30 items plus additional details about behaviors). SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire responses use a scale of 1 to 4; higher numbers imply higher fat consumption. After an average of 18 months (n=49), a pre- to postintervention decrease in SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire score was observed using 91 items (−0.35) or 30 items (−0.28) (both P<0.001). Correlations between SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire change and change in body mass index were similar using 91 or 30 items (0.36 and 0.35, respectively, both P<0.05). Thirty questions measuring consumption frequency may provide adequate information about dietary-fat behavior changes associated with weight loss.

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Study Population

Data were from the Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Program study, a culturally adapted weight-management program designed for African Americans in outpatient settings. The Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Program study procedures and outcomes have been described previously (13). Briefly, African Americans aged 25 to 70 with body mass index (BMI; calculated as kg/m2) between 30 and 50 were recruited through outpatient primary care practices in Philadelphia, PA, by a combination of advertisement and

Results and Discussion

For relevant study periods (baseline and end of Phases 1 and 2), female participants who completed the SisterTalk FHQ were similar in BMI and most personal characteristics to those who did not complete the SisterTalk FHQ. The exception is that those completing the SisterTalk FHQ at baseline or end of Phase 2 were more educated (P=0.04 and P=0.02, respectively) than those not completing the SisterTalk FHQ at those times. Internal consistency, pre-post changes, and correlations are shown in the

Conclusions

The SisterTalk FHQ is an instrument to assess dietary-fat behaviors that was developed for use with black women. These results suggest that a subset of 30 questions from the SisterTalk FHQ would be an acceptable dietary assessment tool. This short tool can be used by food and nutrition professionals and researchers to track dietary-fat behaviors in weight-management efforts for African-American women. We recommend further evaluation of these 30 items as a potential dietary assessment tool for

C. A. M. Anderson is an assistant scientist, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

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C. A. M. Anderson is an assistant scientist, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

S. K. Kumanyika is a professor of epidemiology, J. Shults is an assistant professor of biostatistics, and M. J. Kallan is a biostatician, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

K. M. Gans is an associate professor and P. M. Risica is an assistant professor, Institute for Community Health Promotion, Brown University, Providence, RI.

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