ABSTRACT
African American (AA) women are 60% more likely to become obese (Lewis et al., 1997) and 50% more likely to be moderately to severely obese than Caucasian women in the United States (Flegal, Carroll, Ogden, & Johnson, 2002). Congruent with their higher5 rates of obesity, AA women are less likely to engage in regular physical activity (Centers for Disease Control, 2004) or to consume healthy diets (Arab, Carriquiry, Steck-Scott, & Gaudet, 2003). Likewise, obesity among AA women has been linked to their higher mor-10 tality and incidence rates of coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cerebral vascular disease, and certain cancers (American Cancer Society, 2005; Harris, 1998; Must et al., 1999).
