Improving dietary behavior in African Americans: the Parents As Teachers High 5, Low Fat Program.

Background: The High 5, Low Fat Program (H5LF) for African American parents was developed in partnership with the Parents As Teachers program, and was designed to test a dietary intervention appropriate for national adoption.

Methods: H5LF used a group randomized, nested cohort design with 738 parents. Consistent with organizational goals and methods, parent educators delivered a dietary change program via personal visits, newsletters, and group meetings. Primary outcomes were reducing percentage calories from fat and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among participating parents; intermediate aims included improving in nutrition-related skills and parental modeling of dietary behaviors.

Results: H5LF parents achieved a 0.53 increase in fruit and vegetable consumption (P = 0.03), and a higher proportion of H5LF parents reduced their intake to less than 30% calories from fat (chi(2) = 4.8, P < 0.03; -1.7% calories from fat, p = 0.07) and improved performance of dietary behaviors (F = 14.2, P = 0.004). Improvements in parental modeling were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: H5LF is an effective intervention that is appropriate for national adoption by over 2000 Parents As Teachers sites with the potential to impact dietary intake of African American parents nationwide.