title: Developing comprehensive approaches to prevention and control of obesity among low-income, urban, African-American women.
abstract: Obesity presents a major threat to the health and well-being of low-income, urban, African-American women. African-American women have among the highest rates of obesity in the United States and suffer from a corresponding excess burden of obesity-related diseases. Distinct physiological, societal, cultural, and environmental factors form a mosaic of forces that promote weight gain and prevent weight loss in these women. To develop specific strategies to improve their health, researchers need to better understand the unique nutritional problems facing low-income African-American women residing in inner cities. Individual and community interventions to promote weight reduction have been insufficient to reverse the epidemic. A problem of this magnitude requires concerted and comprehensive policy interventions. This paper uses an ecological approach to suggest multilevel public health strategies to reduce obesity among urban African-American women.
authors.affiliation: Program in Urban Public Health, School of Health Sciences of Hunter College City University of New York, USA.
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Blocker
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Freudenberg
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011203:Poverty; D014481:United States; D014504:Urban Health; D016387:Women's Health