Church leaders' barriers and facilitators before and after implementing a physical activity and nutrition intervention.

Faith-based health promotion programs have been effective in increasing healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Very few reports exist regarding church leaders' anticipated and experienced barriers and facilitators to program implementation. Pastors (n = 38, 70%) and program coordinators (n = 54, 100%) from churches (N = 54) who attended a program training answered open-ended questions about anticipated barriers and facilitators to implementing the HE and PA parts of the Faith, Activity, and Nutrition (FAN) program. Twelve months later, pastors (n = 49, 92%) and coordinators (n = 53, 98%) answered analogous questions about their experienced barriers and facilitators to implementing the HE and PA parts of the FAN program. Responses were coded using thematic analysis. Similar themes appeared at baseline and follow-up for anticipated and experienced barriers and facilitators. The most common barriers were no anticipated barriers, resistance to change, church characteristics, and lack of participation/motivation. The most common facilitators were internal support, leadership, and communication. Few differences were found between anticipated and experienced barriers and facilitators. Understanding these perspectives, particularly overcoming resistance to change and church characteristics through strong leadership and internal support from church leaders, will improve future program development, resources, and technical assistance in faith-based and non-faith-based communities alike.

Effects of a one-year physical activity intervention for older adults at congregate nutrition sites.

The effects of a physical activity intervention on strength, balance, motor coordination, and mobility were tested in a quasi-experiment at rural congregate nutrition sites. Twice-weekly sessions of low intensity movements were conducted for one year. Logistic regression results showed significant differences between intervention (n = 61) and comparison (n = 49) groups on several performance-based measures. Intervention subjects perceived significantly greater improvements in physical functioning over the previous year than did comparison subjects. A qualitative evaluation revealed perceived program benefits of pain reduction, increased flexibility, muscle strengthening, increased walking speed, and improved mental outlook.

Blood pressure in Hispanic women: the role of diet, acculturation, and physical activity.

The role of diet, acculturation, and physical activity on systolic and diastolic blood pressure was examined among 1,420 Mexican American, 388 Cuban American, and 542 Puerto Rican women who responded to the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected in 1982-4. Dietary intake measures included sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, fiber, ethanol, and total kilocalories as estimated from 24-hour recall data. Serum sodium/potassium ratio was included as a measure of metabolic function. Acculturation was measured using language preference, speaking, reading and writing. Physical activity included recreational and non-recreational activities. Other correlates included age, education, and body composition. Final models indicated that age and body composition were significantly associated with blood pressure across all three Hispanic subgroups. Among Mexican-American women, acculturation had an impact on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure that was independent of diet, body composition, and physical activity. Furthermore, the dietary intake of specific nutrients such as sodium and potassium did not appear to be as important as the way the individual metabolized those nutrients, as indicated by the serum sodium/potassium ratio. The strong association of body mass index with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure among all three ethnic groups reinforces the need to maintain an appropriate body weight.