title: Obesity literacy and culture among African American women in Florida.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore causal explanations of obesity among African-American women of diverse weight across the life spectrum.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-depth interviews were conducted with adult African-American women of healthy weight (N = 10), overweight (N = 10), and obese weight (N = 20) to evaluate the relationship between causal explanations of obesity and weight.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Generally overlooked dimensions of health definitions were discovered. Differences in weight definitions were detected between women of different weights. Terminology, symptoms, and solutions to obesity were detected between the women of different weights and public health recommendations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Identified causal discrepancies will help bridge the disconnection between public health recommendations and African-American women's perceptions with tailored interventions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. ivette.lopez@famu.edu.
authors.forename: Ivette A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Florida Department of Children and Families, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia Q
authors.initials: PQ
authors.lastname: Boston
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dutton
authors.affiliation: Florida Department of Children and Families, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Chauneva Glenn
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Greater Frenchtown Revitalization Council, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: M Miaisha
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vilme
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D054521:Cultural Competency; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult