Body satisfaction & healthy behaviors in obese African American women

Despite a rate of morbid obesity that is 2.5 times that of European American women, African American women have higher body areas satisfaction (BAS) than any other ethnicities. Previous research suggested that differences in these women's attitudes via body image may contribute to a lack of motivation to engage in weight management behaviors such as physical activity and healthy eating. However, there is limited knowledge of the mechanisms by which BAS may contribute to unhealthy behaviors. Self-efficacy (SE), self-regulation (SR), and mood (M) were shown to affect healthy behavior participation; however, these psychological factors have not been studied among obese African American women. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate if SR, SE, and M, mediated the association between BAS and healthy behaviors (physical activity and fruit/vegetable consumption). Exploratory analyses with change scores revealed some promising results. Findings from this study augment the existing literature on mechanism for change in healthy behaviors among obese African American women and can inform the development of treatments targeted at this population.