Current Search: Health behavior in adolescence (x)
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Title
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Native American Early Adolescents Response to a Cultural-Based Prevention for Obesity.
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Creator
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Kelley, Melessa N., Lowe, John, Florida Atlantic University, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
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Abstract/Description
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Over the past 30 years, obesity has increased rapidly as an epidemic and major public health concern in the United Stated, particularly among Native American children and adolescents. Native American adolescents have the highest prevalence rates of obesity of all ethnic groups in the United States. Although there has been an increasing effort to develop and evaluate obesity prevention programs for children and adolescents, very little attention has been devoted to understanding culturally...
Show moreOver the past 30 years, obesity has increased rapidly as an epidemic and major public health concern in the United Stated, particularly among Native American children and adolescents. Native American adolescents have the highest prevalence rates of obesity of all ethnic groups in the United States. Although there has been an increasing effort to develop and evaluate obesity prevention programs for children and adolescents, very little attention has been devoted to understanding culturally effective approaches for ethnic populations. There is a significant gap in the research literature regarding effective obesity intervention and prevention studies for Native American children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a culturally based talking circle approach, KCTC-O, for the prevention of obesity among early adolescent Native American (Keetoowah-Cherokee) and to examine the relationships between Cherokee self-reliance; perceived stress levels; and obesity knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. A 7-week intervention in which a 2-condition quasi-experimental design was implemented to compare the KCTC-O experimental condition with a standard school health education (SE) control condition on three outcome variables (Cherokee self-reliance; perceived stress levels; and obesity knowledge, attitudes, and behavior at pre- and post-intervention. A total sample of 100 participants were recruited for this study, 50 participants per condition. The participants were distributed almost evenly in terms of gender: 55 females compared to 45 males for both groups combined. Participants ranged in ages from 10 to 13, with a mean age of 11.5 years of age, and ranged in grades from 4 through 7, with Grade 6 being the most frequently reported grade in school. The results of this study revealed the effectiveness of the KCTC-O condition was not significantly greater than the SE condition. However, although not statistically significant, the results of this study provided some evidence that a culturally based intervention was slightly more effective for the prevention of obesity than a non-culturally based intervention for Native American early adolescents. This study helps to validate the need for more robust obesity prevention programs from a cultural perspective among Native American early adolescents.
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Date Issued
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2016
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004685, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004685
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Subject Headings
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Community based social services, Health behavior in adolescence, Indians of North America -- Health, Indians of North America -- Psychology, Obesity in adolescence -- Prevention
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Format
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Document (PDF)
