Nurse Faculty Scholars - Obesity

An Overview of the Genomics of Metabolic Syndrome

kdeming — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:23:38 +0000

Published Date:

Sat, 2012-09-08 (All day)

This article provides a brief overview of the diagnostic criteria and genomic risk factors for the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Purpose: This article provides a brief overview of the diagnostic criteria and genomic risk factors for the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Organizing Constructs: Contributions of cardiovascular, obesity, and diabetes genomic risk factors to the development of MetS as reported in the literature have been reviewed.

How Neighborhood Environments Contribute to Obesity

nfs — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:15:23 +0000

Published Date:

Wed, 2009-07-01 (All day)

Until recently, researchers have focused most of their attention on psychosocial factors that contribute to obesity and related behaviors, such as diet and physical activity.1, 2 However, there is increasing recognition of the important role that environmental factors play in these behaviors. Between 1980 and 2000, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity doubled, rising to 31% of U.S. adults, ages 20 to 74.3 Since then, the prevalence rate has continued to rise.4 Obesity is a major health concern among African Americans; the prevalence of obesity in African American women exceeds rates for all other racial, ethnic, and gender groups (for example, 54% of African American women are obese, compared with 30% of non-Hispanic white women).4 Nurses, too, find excess weight gain a common health challenge.5, 6 Nurses who work in both clinical and community settings are often responsible for educating clients on the benefits of better diet and increased physical activity in the prevention and treatment of obesity. But education alone rarely produces the desired results. Behavior change may be particularly challenging for those who live in low-income and minority neighborhoods where the resources needed to maintain healthy lifestyles are limited and health risks are widespread.7–10 Consequently, we have focused our research on how urban neighborhood environments may contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in obesity prevalence among women. This article describes studies conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers (including a nurse researcher, first author SNZ) to understand how environmental factors, including the availability of different kinds of food, influenced the diet of African Americans living in several Chicago and Detroit neighborhoods. (We use a term often seen in the literature, neighborhood food environment, to refer to a group of factors including the types of retail food outlets and the availability, quality, and price of different kinds of foods, such as prepared foods, fresh produce, and other groceries, in a given geographical area.) This research entailed working in community–academic partnerships composed of academic researchers, health service providers, and members of local community organizations.11, 12 Our long-term goal is to create urban environments that support healthy eating.

Measuring Food Availability and Access in African-American Communities

nfs — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:11:23 +0000

Published Date:

Wed, 2009-04-01 (All day)

Obesity is a major public health concern in the U.S. As compared to whites, minority populations are disproportionately at risk, with the highest prevalence rates of overweight and obesity occurring among African American women. Although researchers and policymakers argue that environmental approaches have the greatest potential to reverse the rising prevalence of obesity, critical gaps remain in our understanding of the complex mechanisms that underlie the associations between neighborhood food environments and weight status. A major challenge has been the need for reliable and valid measures to assess aspects of the neighborhood food environment that encourage or inhibit healthful eating behaviors and weight management. Investigators have made considerable gains in the development of tools and approaches to measure neighborhood food environments overall, but few studies focus on the specific challenges and issues associated with characterizing neighborhood food environments in communities of color. This paper highlights important considerations for measuring food environments in African-American neighborhoods and their implications for developing programmatic and policy solutions to reduce racial disparities in overweight.