Cancer Control Research
5R01CA064305-04
Hodge, Felicia S.
NUTRITIONAL CIRCULES TO REDUCE CANCER RISK
AbstractThere are few studies focusing on the patterns of food use among American
Indian populations, and even fewer evaluating nutrition education
interventions among this population. This project will build on the
findings from a previous study of the dietary habits of California Indians
to design a culturally sensitive intervention utilizing the talking circle
(Nutritional Circle). The intervention will focus on reinforcing positive
foods habits and modifying nutritionally detrimental ones, to reduce the
risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Increased use of traditional
foods will be emphasized as appropriate.
The American Indian family is the target population. Four urban and four
rural Indian sites will be randomly assigned to intervention and control
clinics. Fifty homemakers per site (n=400) will be followed and evaluated.
Process evaluation also will be conducted, and will provide information on
the cultural adaptation of the intervention.
Phase I consists of instrument development and design of educational
materials. During Phase II, homemakers in the intervention sites will
participate in a series of 12 Nutritional Circle sessions. Pre- and post-
testing of the groups will be conducted. In Phase III, outcome and
process measures will be analyzed and evaluated.
Studying the efficacy of a culturally acceptable and sensitive
intervention has far-reaching significance not only to California's Indian
population, but potentially to American Indians nation-wide. Improving
dietary behavior in a unique population such as our First Americans has
the potential to lower the risk of cancer as well as other chronic
diseases as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. A successful
urban/rural Indian intervention model may have generalizability to the
larger Indian population across the nation.
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