Research Description
Obesity has become a global health challenge and it disproportionately affects African-Americans (AA) communities. Diabetes, an obesity-related conditions, is one of the leading causes of premature death. Diet and exercise for weight loss are key in preventing progression to diabetes. Traditionally, these interventions involved multiple visits, extensive planning, and high costs, making it difficult to continue these treatments over time. Smartphone apps have become popular tools for weight loss and healthy living. However, the acceptance of these programs in AA communities is less known. Most apps fail to consider lifestyle factors, cultural traditions, food preferences and flavors of these populations. Further research is needed on the effect of interventions culturally oriented to AA. Southeastern Virginia is home to a large underserved AA population. Obesity and diabetes prevalence are significantly higher in Southeastern Virginia than the Virginia state and there is a need to identify effective plans that address obesity and prevent progression to diabetes in this area. We propose to assess the utility of a culturally oriented smartphone-based lifestyle program in overweight and obese AA individuals with prediabetes living in Southeastern Virginia. The main goal is to identify effective and sustainable lifestyle interventions for these communities. We foresee that a locally developed and culturally oriented intervention will be able to promote positive changes in health-related behaviors and lifestyle choices, ultimately improving the health of the region.
Research Profile
What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes?The goal of this proposal is to identify effective and sustainable dietary lifestyle interventions for African Americans at risk of developing diabetes. We plan to test the effect of a culturally sensitive and affordable, web-based dietary plan on promoting weight loss and improving participants' metabolism. If effective, this intervention will help prevent the development of diabetes in this population. Furthermore, teaching individuals healthier, yet affordable ways of preparing meals in addition to preserving flavor and culture has the potential to reach entire families and communities, increasing the impact of the program.
If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond?This is a community oriented program that addresses the need for more culturally oriented, accessible and easy to implement weight loss interventions to reduce the gap in health outcomes experienced by underserved communities in the US, including the prevention of diabetes. The program is specifically directed to people at risk of developing diabetes. However, if the intervention proves to be useful in these populations, it can be applied to patients with diabetes in the future.
Why important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play?I have been conducting clinical research in diabetes and diabetes complications for the last 10 years. Throughout my career I have became aware of the critical role that health education and lifestyle interventions play on minority populations as a way to prevent diabetes and metabolic disease. Our team is currently engaged in 3 community oriented projects to improve obesity and diabetes outcomes of minority groups in our region of Southeastern Virginia. This project will add key information to our current efforts, with the potential of finding better and more effective lifestyle interventions to prevent diabetes in these at risk communities.
In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going?The public market for mobile Health technologies has experienced dramatic growth in the last decade. The proliferation and low-cost of many nutrition apps, remote and self-monitoring devices and virtual coaching, when implemented appropriately, successfully support dietitians and diabetes educators’ practices by increasing accuracy, efficiency and quality of the interventions applied, as well as improving patients' outcomes. There is growing evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions targeting specific physiologic and psychosocial outcomes as well as health-related knowledge and self-care management. I see future diabetes research focusing more on this type of research to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.