Lifestyle Change for Weight Loss in the Inner-City

In low-income minority communities, there is high prevalence and clustering of obesity, coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Evidence suggests one way to treat and prevent these conditions is through a very low-fat, high fiber, vegetarian diet. A feasibility study was conducted to determine whether inner-city African American and Latino patients will accept a low-fat vegetarian diet and to assess attitudes about the life-style intervention. Reductions in fat and animal products were acceptable, though complete conversion to vegetarianism was not. Meanwhile, group support was the most highly rated component of the class. Contrary to common perceptions of immigrants needing to maintain traditional habits, the Latino participants enthusiastically adopted new concepts and incorporated new recipes into their diet. Weight loss was achieved during the 8 week course and continued through 18 month follow-up. It appears that individual empowerment through the group intervention, coupled with simple diet messages, supported life-style change in a high-risk group