title: Lifestyle and morbidity among blacks.
abstract: This descriptive study used the questionnaire method to investigate health lifestyle patterns of two Southern Black religious denominations. Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs). The entire sample numbered 105 persons from urban centers. Responses of Baptists (N = 46) were compared with responses of Seventh-day Adventists (N = 59) on the seven health promoting practices identified in the studies of Belloc and Breslow (1972): hours of sleep, appropriate body weight, regularity of exercise, moderate alcohol consumption, smoking abstinence, regularity of breakfast and moderation of between meal snacks. This was the first research focusing on these health behaviors in a Black population in the South. Findings showed the groups to be significantly different only in smoking behavior, SDAs were more often nonsmokers. The salient implications for practice in this study are in the health education area for the individual, the family, the community and ethnic groups. This investigator submits that the church as a wider support system needs to be utilized by practitioners as a vehicle for client education. Several suggestions for further research are presented.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lanig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity