CHAPEL HILL - Black churches, long a source of spiritual comfort and community for their members, also can help improve people's eating habits and other behaviors to make them healthier, according to a major new study involving a dozen researchers, three Triangle universities and state health experts.
The study -- the largest of its kind ever done -- was conducted by Dr. Marci K. Campbell, assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill schools of public health and medicine, and colleagues. It was intended to determine whether church-related activities could change ingrained eating habits.
Nutrition and other health experts now believe reducing dietary fat and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption can cut cancer risks, which are higher and increasing among blacks, while providing other significant health benefits as well.
"We found we could boost the amount of fruits and vegetables people in the study consumed by about a serving a day," said Campbell, also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. "One serving equals a half cup of fruit or cooked vegetables, a cup of salad or six ounces of 100 percent fruit juice. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you think of this amount of change across the large sample of 2,500 people involved, that everyone was surveyed regardless of their level of participation and that the effect has lasted for at least two years, it's actually pretty impressive."
A report on the research appears in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Besides Campbell, authors are Dr. Michael Symons, Dr. William D. Kalsbeek, Dr. Janice Dodds, Dr. Bethany Jackson, Justin Lashley and Seleshi Demissie of the UNC-CH School of Public Health; Dr. Wendy Demark-Wahnefried and Kim Hoben of Duke University; Arnette Cowan and Brenda Motsinger of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Resources and Dr. Jacquelyn W. McClelland of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service at N.C. State University.
The study involved recruiting 50 black churches in ten N.C. counties to participate in the N.C.-based Black Churches United for Better Health project and surveying all participants at the beginning and end of the project. Twenty-five of the congregations received healthy "interventions" -- a series of efforts, including educational sessions, sermons by pastors, personalized printed material and lay advisers -- to encourage members to consume more fruits and vegetables. The other 25 congregations received no interventions until after the second round of surveys.
Members of the two groups ate similar amounts of fruits and vegetables at the outset of the research.
"We observed the largest increases among people 66 years and older, those with education beyond high school, widowed or divorced people and those attending church frequently," Campbell said. "The least improvement occurred among those aged 18 to 37 years and single people."
Frequent churchgoers, for example, consumed almost a serving and a half more of fruits and vegetables than they had when the study began, she said.
"In this project, the institutional support and social networks of the church provided an effective avenue for diffusion of the 5-a-Day for Better Health Program," Campbell said. "The National Cancer Institute established the program in 1991 to encourage Americans to consume five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily."
Hundreds of earlier studies have indicated that those with the highest fruit and vegetable consumption may face half the risk of colorectal cancer as people with the lowest consumption, she said. The new work is good news because it shows eating patterns can be changed and that church activities are among the most effective ways of doing that. Similar efforts through schools and work sites have shown smaller effects on behavior.
"We especially acknowledge and appreciate the invaluable contributions of the participating churches and local agencies in Bertie, Columbus, Duplin, Halifax, Hertford, Lenoir, Martin, Northampton, Pasquotank and Sampson counties," Campbell said.
The National Cancer Institute supported the new research because it wanted to find better ways of helping large groups of people avoid cancer and reduce health disparities in the U.S. population, she said. The N.C. study confirms, among other things, the importance of focusing not just on individuals but also on their social networks and various communities.
Note: Campbell can be reached at 919-966-7230 (w) or 919-471-3608 (h). E-mail: marci_campbell@unc.edu
School of Public Health contact: Lisa Katz, 919-966-7467. E-mail: lisa_katz@unc.edu News Services contact: David Williamson, 919-962-8596. E-mail: david_williamson@unc.edu
Journal
American Journal of Public Health