26 / 58
26
Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs
A 2013 analysis by Acheampong and Haldeman
74
combined data from three different studies
conducted in North Carolina over five years in order to (1) describe nutrition knowledge,
attitudes, beliefs (KAB), and self-efficacy among low-income African American and Hispanic/
Latina women; (2) identify the associations these variables have on diet quality and weight
status; (3) identify barriers to healthy eating. The total sample included 92 African American
women and 272 Hispanic/Latina women. Results indicated that the variation in diet, KAB,
and self-efficacy between the two ethnic groups supports the need for nutrition educators to
acknowledge these differences and focus on group-specific needs as they relate to dietary
intake or BMI. For instance, among Hispanics, beliefs influence food intake. This was not
evident among the African Americans. Among African Americans, attitude toward eating a
healthy meal was related to their BMI. As such, one must focus on beliefs when developing a
nutrition/health plan for the Hispanic/Latino population while concentrating on the nutritional
attitudes among African Americans. Nutrition education geared towards overweight/obese
individuals must be practical and aim at behavior changes. Among the Hispanic/Latino group,
health/nutrition educators can focus on some basic educational topics such as the benefits of
fiber and reading food labels to aid them in selecting healthy foods at the grocery stores. The
least-reported barrier in both ethnicities was the dislike of healthy foods. Therefore, education
programs can focus on teaching diverse groups simple and quick healthy meal preparation
and purchasing seasonal foods for a lower price.
74
Cultural Characteristics of Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans
While culture is an essential mediator in people’s health status, other factors including
environment, economics, genetics, previous and current health status, and psychosocial
factors also exert considerable influence on our well-being. While some knowledge about
cultural groups is important, relying too much on this approach may lead to stereotyping
and oversimplification of culture, without a respect for its complexity. It is important to avoid
stereotyping groups and to avoid automatic assumption that patients will exhibit “Hispanic/
Latino values” or “African American values.” Such factors must be explored and ascertained,
rather than automatically assumed.
Nevertheless, core elements of various
cultures have been explored and
identified by sociologists and other
professionals. The descriptions that
follow are taken from the
Provider’s
Guide to Quality and Culture,
an
online tool for learning about cultural
competency for health care. The
Provider’s Guide
is a joint project of
Management Sciences for Health, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), the Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA),
and the Bureau of Primary Health Care.
E
ducators can focus on basic topics
such as the benefits of fiber and
reading food labels to aid in selecting
healthy foods at the grocery store…
focus on teaching diverse groups simple
and quick healthy meal preparation and
purchasing seasonal foods…