Body mass index and intake of selected foods in African American men.
BACKGROUND
There are minimal data on the relationship between dietary consumption of fats, vegetables, and fruits and body mass index (BMI) in African American men.


OBJECTIVE
This study tested the relationships between selected dietary consumption and BMI.


METHODS
The sample was a community-based cohort of 204 African American Southern men who attended a free prostate cancer educational and screening program. The screening was part of an all-day African American celebration that included a health fair. Diet was assessed with a Brief Dietary Scale for Selected Food Intake and Preparation.


RESULTS
Most of the men were overweight (34%) or obese (47%). The majority of men ate their chicken (90%) and fish (96%) fried. Few men ate vegetables at supper (29.4%) or lunch (15.8%). Three fatty food items were significantly associated with BMI: leaving the chicken skin on chicken (p=.03); intake of low-fat or skim milk (p=.02); and cooking vegetables with butter (p=.03).


CONCLUSIONS
African American men need culturally appropriate dietary interventions to reduce obesity.
Weinrich
Sally P
SP
School of Nursing, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia 30912, USA. sweinrich@mcg.edu
Priest
Julie
J
Reynolds
William
W
Godley
Paul A
PA
Tuckson
Wayne
W
Weinrich
Martin
M
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003296:Cooking; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D005638:Fruit; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008571:Men / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D015144:Southeastern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables
D004041:Dietary Fats