Fitness And Eating Habits Affected By Group Dynamics UCLA Study Of Community Hea

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Fitness And Eating Habits Affected By Group Dynamics UCLA Study Of

Community Health Project Shows

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=46967

Imagine break-room vending machines featuring fruit juice and

vegetables instead of cookies and soda pop. Consider colleagues who

insist on mid-morning group exercise breaks and applaud a lunchtime

workout rather than criticizing the cut of the sweat suit. Ponder an

organizational culture that encourages walking the stairs instead of

riding the elevator.

A UCLA-evaluated study of a demonstration project led by Community

Health Councils, Inc. (CHC) in Los Angeles shows how incorporating

physical activity and healthy eating into an office or other

organizational culture pays dividends for participants.

Published in the July 2006 edition of the peer-reviewed journal

Health Promotion Practice, the study finds that a six-week wellness-

training program significantly increases vigorous physical activity

among participants. A 12-week curriculum, meanwhile, boosts fruit and

vegetable intake while reducing feelings of sadness and depression,

and can even reduce waistlines.

" Creating a culture of healthy living within an organizational

framework requires buy-in by leadership, staff and clientele, " said

Dr. Antronette K. Yancey, lead author of the study and associate

professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public

Health. " Both the physical and social environment must change.

" The model we studied holds promise for extending the reach of

worksite wellness programming to organizations, at-risk populations

and communities not traditionally engaged by such efforts, " she

added. " However, many obstacles to organizational and individual

engagement are apparent. Recommendations include offering a flexible

menu of options that may be tailored to each organization and

developing strong intra-organizational connections throughout the

program to improve sustainability. "

The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010

demonstration project, led by Los Angeles-based Community Health

Councils, adapted and implemented an organizational wellness

intervention originally developed by the local health department. The

program provides training in incorporating physical activity and

healthy food choices into the routine " conduct of business " in a

variety of predominantly public and private, nonprofit agencies.

" Our goal is to increase life expectancy and improve quality of life

for all ages by helping communities support programs that eliminate

health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities, " said

study co-author Lark Galloway-Gilliam, executive director of

Community Health Councils. " The focus of the CHC Organizational

Wellness Program is on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes

within the African-American community, where CVD rates are 20 percent

higher for black men and 40 percent higher for black women compared

to their white counterparts. And blacks are 1.8 times as likely to

have diabetes as whites. "

UCLA examined the results of the CHC study of 35 organizations. More

than 700 staff, members or clients--mostly overweight African-

American women--within those organizations completed a 12-week or a

six-week curriculum.

Among the findings contained in the UCLA analysis of the program:

* Feelings of sadness or depression decreased significantly among 12-

week participants; fruit and vegetable intake increased significantly

and body mass index decreased marginally with the 12-week program,

with no significant changes in these measures in the six-week group.

* The number of days in which individuals participated in vigorous

physical activity increased significantly among six-week participants

but not in the 12-week group.

* Attendance and retention rates between baseline and post-

intervention assessment were quite low for the 12-week curriculum (30

percent to 37 percent retention) but substantially higher for the six-

week offering (66 percent attendance and 60 percent to 92 percent

retention).

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Primary funding for the research was provided by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention.

The rest of the research team includes LaVonna Blair , C.

Sloane and Lori Nascimento of the University of Southern

California; Joyce Guinyard of CHC; L. Diamant of UCLA

and the Rand Corporation; and J. McCarthy of UCLA.