Mediating effects of group cohesion on physical activity and diet in women of color: health is power.

Purpose: To determine the effects and mediating factors of a physical activity (PA) or vegetable and fruit (VF) group cohesion intervention.

Design: Longitudinal design.

Setting: Harris County and Travis County, Texas.

Health is Power: an ecological, theory-based health intervention for women of color.

Objective: Physical inactivity and poor dietary habits plague Americans as health challenges, with women of color most vulnerable to their detrimental effects. Individually focused interventions have not demonstrated lasting success, possibly due to the lack of focus on sustainable social and physical environment factors. This manuscript describes the rationale, design and methodology of Health Is Power (HIP), a transcultural, community based, randomized controlled trial that investigated the effectiveness of a group cohesion intervention to increase physical activity and improve dietary habits in African American and Hispanic or Latina women in Houston and Austin, Texas.