NIH AWARDS $3 MILLION GRANT TO UH PROF
TO STUDY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND OBESITY
Five-Year Study Examines African American, Hispanic Women
HOUSTON, May 23, 2005—The National Institutes of Health
has awarded a University of Houston professor a
$3 million, five-year grant to study the effects of neighborhood
environment and group support on physical activity among minority
women. Rebecca Lee, assistant professor of health and human performance,
says the study, the first of its kind, will examine African American
and Hispanic women.
“This research will provide valuable insight into an area
in which there is little information, and that is women of color
and the factors that influence their physical activity,” Lee
said. “Our findings could have far reaching effects that lead
to better environments and healthier lives.”
Lee’s pilot study, Maintaining Physical Activity in Ethnic
Minority Women, followed three groups of African American women
for five weeks. Their charge was to support each other as they worked
toward a group goal of walking 125 miles in five weeks. A control
group had the same charge, but did not have to accomplish the goal
as a group. At the end of the five-week period, those who had group
support achieved their goal while many in the control group did
not.
“We will now expand the study to six months,” Lee
said. “We’ll also employ an urban designer who will
use the data to determine whether people are more likely to engage
in physical activity in environments that are more inviting, such
as tree-lined areas, neighborhoods with sidewalks, near schools
or churches and away from traffic.”
Lee says the study is unique in its examination of two groups
of women of color—African American women in Houston and Hispanic
women in Austin. She says these two groups are at high risk for
obesity and other related diseases, yet there is not a lot of research
into the factors involved in pursuing physical activity. The research
will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Houston,
the University of Texas at Austin and Kaiser Permanente Colorado.
“This information could guide policy on how we build our cities
and living environments,” Lee said. “This could go a
long way in encouraging and leading healthy lives.”
Lee has done extensive research on the subject of obesity, in
particular the neighborhood factors that may lead to obesity such
as availability and quality of fresh produce.
Related story http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/2004/11nov/112904obesitystudy.html
For more information on the UH Health and Human Performance Department,
please visit http://www.hhp.uh.edu
For more on Rebecca Lee’s research on obesity, please visit
http://hhp.uh.edu/undo/StudentRA.htm
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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