DDIG: Body Cultures, African American Girls, and Physical Activity Engagement

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Doctoral student Stephanie McClure, supervised by Dr. Eileen Anderson-Fye, will undertake research on the relationships between body conceptualization and physical activity engagement within a specific racial and age group -- African American adolescent girls. The research focuses on answering two overarching questions. The first question is: how do local cultural contexts affect body agency, the body as an expression of identity? (Local cultural contexts comprise the blend of lived experience, family and peer norms, local history, and macro-level social constructions.) The second question is: how does body agency shape the meanings and practices of physical activity engagement? These questions are important because while adolescence-associated declines in physical activity are more marked for African American girls than for girls of other racial groups, their actual physical activity levels, low body weight norms, and body image focus vary. This within-group variability is not accounted for if racial norms alone are used as an explanation. The research will be conducted in a high school. The researcher will employ a mix of qualiatative and quantitative research methods, including: focus group interviews, semi-structured individual interviews, direct observation, electronic physical activity monitoring, and anthropometric measurement. This research will provide needed data about cultural variability among African Americans and the interaction between identity, body conceptualization and bodily practice in adolescent life contexts more generally. Research findings will inform the development of effective obesity prevention programs and policies targeting American adolescents. Funding this research also contributes to the education of a social scientist.