The role of culture in shaping food-related attitudes and behaviors: A qualitative study of African American and Afro Caribbean immigrant women

Obesity-related messages and interventions tend to target Black women within the United States as a homogeneous group, thus ignoring the cultural differences that exist within the population's various subgroups. As a first step toward understanding some of the cultural differences that exist among some of these subgroups, we conducted in-depth interviews with 13 African American women and 12 recently immigrated Afro Caribbean women living in Atlanta, Georgia, to compare their food-related attitudes and behaviors. The findings showed that more cultural differences than similarities existed between these two groups. The Afro Caribbean participants were more homogeneous, grew up with health-conscious role models, and therefore, were themselves health-conscious and deliberate in maintaining healthy food-related attitudes and behaviors. The African American participants' attitudes and behaviors were influenced by role models who were focused on the historical significance of their food choices as part of their identity and culture. These findings indicated important cultural differences with implications for differentiating the strategies that are used to address obesity among women within Black US-subgroups.