Knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors related to salt use among Philadelphia Chinese take-out restaurant owners and chefs.

Most of the sodium Americans consume comes from processed and restaurant foods. An upstream global strategy to promote health is to work with local restaurants to reduce sodium content in their food offerings, while accounting for food taste and economic considerations. In urban communities, Chinese take-out restaurants serve meals with large amounts of sodium and are clustered in low-income, racial/ethnic minority communities with a high prevalence of hypertension. The objective of this study is to assess baseline knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to sodium use/consumption among Chinese take-out owners and chefs recruited to participate in the Philadelphia Healthy Chinese Take-Out Initiative. A cross-sectional study of 221 Chinese take-out restaurants was conducted from August 2012 to February 2013. Items measured knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to salt use, salt consumption, and health. Most owners/chefs knew that excess sodium consumption contributes to high blood pressure but were less aware of other health effects and of major sources of sodium in the U.S. diet. The majority were willing and able to reduce sodium content in meals if customer demand could be maintained, and they desired training in food preparation, procurement, and marketing. Findings show a need to provide education, strategies, and support to Chinese take-out owners/chefs in preparing low-salt dishes. The results of this and future studies to reduce sodium content in meals by working with restaurant owners and chefs have global health promotion implications.

Community-based colorectal cancer intervention in underserved Korean Americans.

BACKGROUND: Despite evidence of a decline in both incidence and prevalence of colorectal cancer nationwide, it remains the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third highest cause of mortality among Asian Americans, including Korean Americans. This community-based and theoretically guided study evaluated a culturally appropriate intervention program that included a bilingual cancer educational program among Korean Americans including information on CRC risks, counseling to address psychosocial and access barriers, and patient navigation assistance. METHODS: A two-group quasi-experimental design with baseline and post-intervention assessment and a 12-month follow-up on screening was used in the study. Korean Americans (N=167) were enrolled from six Korean churches. The intervention group received culturally appropriate intervention program addressing accessibility and psychosocial barriers, and navigation assistance for screening. The control group received general health education that included cancer-related health issues and screening. RESULTS: There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the post-intervention and control groups in awareness of CRC risk factors. There was also a significant improvement in the pre-post across HBM measures in the intervention group for perceived susceptibility (p<0.05) and benefits and barriers to screening (p<0.001). At baseline, 13% of participants in the intervention group and 10% in control group reported having had a CRC cancer screening test in the previous year. At the 12-month post-intervention follow-up, 77.4% of participants in the intervention group had obtained screening compared to 10.8% in the control group. CONCLUSION: While health disparities result from numerous factors, a culturally appropriate and church-based intervention can be highly effective in increasing knowledge of and access to, and in reducing barriers to CRC screening among underserved Koreans.

A brief smoking cessation intervention for Chinese and Korean American smokers.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated changes in smoking-related beliefs and behavior following a brief, culturally adapted smoking cessation intervention for Chinese and Korean smokers. METHOD: From May 2002 to March 2003, 66 smokers residing in or around southeastern Pennsylvania were randomly assigned to a theory-based smoking cessation intervention or general health counseling. Participants completed assessments of perceived risks of smoking, pros and cons of quitting, quitting self-efficacy, and distress at baseline and follow-up time points. Sessions were conducted in the participant's native language (Korean, Cantonese, or Mandarin). Both groups received nicotine replacement therapy. RESULTS: Overall, 38% of participants reported quitting smoking at 3-month follow-up. Quit rates were higher (52.6% among Chinese, 60.0% among Korean) in the intervention condition compared to the control condition (23.5% among Chinese, 40.0% among Korean) at 1-month, but not 3-month, follow-up. There was a main effect of treatment condition for self-efficacy with intervention participants reporting significantly higher levels of self-efficacy compared to control participants. Further, a treatment x time interaction was observed for cons of quitting, reflecting fewer cons in the intervention group than the control group at 1-month and 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: A culturally adapted intervention for Chinese and Korean Americans can be effective in changing specific smoking-related cognitions and behavior. This study represents a promising first step toward advancing our understanding of the associations between smoking-related cognitions and behavior among Asian American smokers.

Ethnic differences in adolescent smoking behaviors, sources of tobacco, knowledge and attitudes toward restriction policies.

The purpose of this study was to examine racial/ethnic differences in adolescent smoking behavior, sources of tobacco, knowledge of and attitudes toward youth tobacco restriction policies, and perceptions of tobacco availability by adolescents. The study is important as it will add to the growing body of literature regarding tobacco use by minors, and will help policymakers and public health professionals develop efficacious policies and interventions to prevent and reduce tobacco use among adolescents. Minors obtain tobacco from social and commercial sources. Previous studies have emphasized rural homogeneous populations and so the present study addresses the need to determine these sources of tobacco to youth in a large urban, heterogeneous population, such as Philadelphia. A stratified multistage purposive sampling procedure was used to ensure an ethnically/racially sample. A 68-item questionnaire was administered to 645 students in Grades 8-10 in five public and nonpublic funded schools in a culturally diverse part of Philadelphia. Correlations between selected independent variables and smoking behavior were determined. Results from this study indicate that rates of smoking are high among students, with 50% of students ever having smoked, 19% within the last month, 17% weekly, and 15% smoke daily. Further, there were differences in rates of smoking between ethnic/racial groups. Social sources were the most common sources of tobacco reported, with friends being the most frequent source. There were differences in social and commercial ever sources of cigarettes between ethnic/racial groups and in perceived school and parental sanctions for tobacco use. The results of this study suggest that more financial and educational resources should be committed to prevent and reduce smoking behaviors among adolescents. Educational prevention programs, especially parenting programs should be employed to reduce smoking.

Prevalence and predictors of tobacco use among Asian Americans in the Delaware Valley region.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined tobacco use rates and potential predictors of use among Asian Americans residing in the Delaware Valley region. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample consisted of 1174 Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Cambodians. RESULTS: Findings indicated that the mean age at initiation of tobacco use was 18.3 years. Among the respondents, 40.2% had a history of tobacco use, and 29.6% were current users. Men were more likely than women to smoke. There were significant differences between never smokers, current smokers, and ex-smokers in sex, ethnicity, educational attainment, and marital and employment status. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that tobacco use is still a serious public health problem among Asian Americans, especially men.