Sisters Together: Move More, Eat More

Statistics show that 80 percent of Black women are overweight or obese. This high prevalence of obesity in this group contributes to and is associated with serious health consequences related to diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. In order to reduce the prevalence of obesity and the perceived risk of developing disease in this target population, an intervention strategy that gets women moving and eating healthy will need to be established to improve this target group’s quality of life.

Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better is a national initiative of the Weight-control Information Network (WIN), a program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) that was designed to encourage Black women 18 and over to maintain a healthy weight by increasing their physical activity and eating healthier foods. This program is comprised of several different components to encourage Black women to get physically active and eat healthier. The components include:


Turnkey Program Guide - teaches communities step-by-step about how to establish this program in their local areas.
Nutritional Program - incorporates tips for eating better with examples of healthy recipes.
Exercise/Move More program – provides tips for safely exercising and starting a walking program.
Hair Care - provides regimes for maintaining healthy hair when exercising.
Promotion/Media program - publishes brochures and literature about the health benefits of regular physical activity and health eating along with works with national and local media outlets to deliver key program messages.
Building Effective Community Partnerships/Coalitions - looks at getting local schools, consumer and professional organization along with business involved with sponsoring or promoting program elements.
Evaluation Component - examine program effectiveness among participants and community organizations along with assesses whether program goals are being met.


For more information about Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/sisterstogether/index.html.

Other programs and studies that promote health, nutrition, fitness and wellness for African American Women.

Walking for Wellness Campaign sponsored by the California Black Women’s Health Project in Los Angeles http://www.cabwhp.org/programs/program_archive/walking_for_wellness

Anthropometric Changes Using a Walking Intervention in African American Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=15888227

California’s African American 5 a Day Campaign sponsored by USDA http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/cdic/cpns/aa/