AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN FIGHT CANCER WITH FITNESS (FCF)

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DESCRIPTION:(Applicant's Description) African-American women have disproportionately high cancer incidence and mortality rates. Of all major United States ethnic/gender groups, African-American women are, on the average, the most likely to be overweight and the least physically active. Mounting evidence links these factors, along with diet, to cancer etiology. Yet few cancer prevention studies have investigated the determinants of these risk factors or developed interventions culturally targeted to address them. The study proposed here, African-American Women Fight Cancer with Fitness (FCF), examines the effectiveness of a randomized, community-based, nutrition-exercise intervention trial aimed at middle income African-American women representing a broad range of ages. Participants will be randomly assigned to eight weekly interactive group sessions providing culturally tailored high-complex carbohydrate/low-fat nutrition and balanced (strength training, aerobic activity, and flexibility enhancement) exercise instruction (intervention) or eight women s/African-American health issues seminars focused on cancer screening promotion (attention control). Outcome measures of body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and percent body fat by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) will be assessed at 2, 6, and 12 months of follow-up. This research will test the hypothesis that the FCF intervention can favorably influence body composition in African-American women. Secondary analyses are expected to show that any significant outcomes are highly correlated with changes in dietary behavior and physical activity patterns, and correlated with social support.