A Church-Based Diabetes Risk Factor Prevention Program Improves Psychosocial Factors and Food-Related Behaviors

Objective. To evaluate the impact of a faith-based diabetes risk prevention program. Design. Nine predominately African American (AA) churches were randomized to one of three groups–group 1 (intervention group) received the Healthy Bodies Healthy Souls faith-based intervention and Project POWER (HBHS+PP), group 2 received PP only, and group 3 received a delayed intervention (comparison group). Results. Church members in the HBHS+PP intervention group significantly decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.02 and 0.01, respectively), showed greater improvement in food-related self-efficacy (p = 0.04), had a trend toward increased purchasing of healthy foods (p = 0.06), and decreased their purchasing of less healthy foods (p = 0.02) compared to churches receiving PP alone or the delayed intervention. Conclusions. The combined HBHS+PP program shows promise toward promoting a healthier lifestyle and behaviors in AA church members.