Culturally-Relevant Obesity Interventions: African American Children and Adolescents

A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of culturally-relevant interventions targeting childhood obesity in African American children and adolescents. A scoping review of the literature resulted in 58 studies for qualitative analyses. This chapter focuses on 39 of those studies which were analyzed quantitatively, as they contained empirical data on outcomes of interest. Approximately 59% of the studies focused solely on African American youth. Most studies were developed with at least one established theoretical model and had two or more intervention components which focused on nutrition, increasing physical activity, adopting healthy lifestyles, or improving self-efficacy to adopt healthy behaviors. Primary outcome was intervention efficacy as measured by body mass index (BMI). Findings suggest limited efficacy of reduction in obesity (i.e., BMI) among the interventions reviewed. Factors associated with statistically significant decreases in BMI post-intervention include the use of multiple theoretical models and targeting a co-ed population rather than female only. The review reinforces results from previous reports that noted a limited number of overall intervention studies; limited interventions for younger (under age 6 years) and older (adolescent) populations relative to middle-school age youth; low-quality study designs; limited documentation of cultural tailoring/adaptation; and inconsistent reporting of demographic characteristics and subgroup analysis. To address these gaps, the authors recommend identifying key constructs and documenting methods used to culturally-tailor interventions; reporting demographic data for study participants; and designing studies with longer follow-up time to allow for robust evaluations of the impact of the interventions—all of which may lead to the development of effective interventions targeting African American youth.