Churches as targets for cardiovascular disease prevention: Comparison of genes, nutrition, exercise, wellness and spiritual growth (GoodNEWS) and Dallas County populations

Tiffany M. Powell-Wiley, Kamakki Banks-Richard, Elicia Williams-King, Liyue Tong, Colby R. Ayers, James A de Lemos, Nora E Gimpel, Jenny J. Lee, Mark J. Dehaven

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

BackgroundWe compared cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (CVRFs) of community-based participatory research (CBPR) participants with the community population to better understand how CBPR participants relate to the population as a whole.MethodsGoodNEWS participants in 20 African-American churches in Dallas, Texas were compared with age/sex-matched African-Americans in the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), a probability-based sample of Dallas County residents. DHS characteristics were sample-weight adjusted to represent the Dallas County population.ResultsDespite having more education (college education: 75 versus 51%, P< 0.0001), GoodNEWS participants were more obese (mean body mass index: 34 versus 31 kg/m2, P< 0.001) and had more diabetes (23 versus 12%, P< 0.001) and hyperlipidemia (53 versus 14%, P< 0.001) compared with African-Americans in Dallas County. GoodNEWS participants had higher rates of treatment and control of most CVRFs (treated hyperlipidemia: 95 versus 64%, P< 0.001; controlled diabetes: 95 versus 21%, P< 0.001; controlled hypertension: 70 versus 52%, P= 0.003), were more physically active (233 versus 177 metabolic equivalent units-min/week, P< 0.0001) and less likely to smoke (10 versus 30%, P< 0.001).ConclusionsCompared with African-Americans in Dallas County, CBPR participants in church congregations were more educated, physically active and had more treatment and control of most CVRFs. Surprisingly, this motivated population had a greater obesity burden, identifying them as a prime target for CBPR-focused obesity treatment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-106
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Public Health (United Kingdom)
Volume35
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2013

Keywords

  • African-Americans
  • cardiovascular risk factors
  • community-based participatory research
  • obesity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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