Diet Quality among Pre-Adolescent African American Girls in a Randomized Controlled Obesity Prevention Intervention Trial

Authors

Debbe Thompson
Yiming Mirabile
Noemi Islam
Chishinga Callender
Salma M A Musaad
Julie Miranda
Jennette P Moreno
Jayna M Dave
Tom Baranowski

Publication Date

6-12-2023

Journal

Nutrients

DOI

10.3390/nu15122716

PMID

37375620

PMCID

PMC10304082

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-12-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Female, Humans, Black or African American, Diet, Eating, Pediatric Obesity, Child, child, Black or African American, healthy diet

Abstract

Consuming an unhealthy diet increases health risks. This study assessed the impact of a culturally adapted behaviorally innovative obesity prevention intervention (The Butterfly Girls and the Quest for Founder’s Rock) on diet quality in pre-adolescent non-Hispanic Black/African American girls. The RCT consisted of three groups (experimental, comparison, and waitlist control); block randomization allocated participants to each group. The two treatment groups varied in terms of whether or not they set goals. Data were collected at baseline (prior to receiving the intervention), post 1 (3 months post-baseline), and post 2 (6 months post-baseline). Two dietitian-assisted 24 h dietary recalls were collected at each timepoint. Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015) was used to determine diet quality. A total of 361 families were recruited; 342 completed baseline data collection. No significant differences in overall HEI score or component scores were observed. To attain more equitable health outcomes, future efforts to promote dietary intake change among at-risk children should explore other behavior change procedures and employ more child-friendly dietary assessment methods.