Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Gloria Billingsley

Abstract

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States with four out of five African American women, aged 20 and older, being overweight or obese, resulting in excessive morbidity and mortality. Policy interventions have been developed to address the issue, but without much success in this population. The purpose of this Husserl-inspired phenomenological study was to better understand how nutrition labeling influences eating behaviors of overweight and obese African American women in their weight loss efforts. The Socio-Ecological Model for Food and Physical Activity Decisions (SEMFPAD) was the theoretical framework for this study. Purposeful sampling and snowballing were used to recruit 12 overweight or obese African American women in New York City between the ages of 25 and 65 who gave voice to their lived experiences through in-depth semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s 7-step phenomenological analytic method. A significant finding was how the culture of “thinness” not only cultivates stigma regarding body size and negative self-perception, but also burdens African-American women with shame that may suppress any public display of weight loss efforts either through reading nutrition labels or engaging in physical activity. Nutritional support networks that include family, friends, and exercise companions were identified as critical components of weight loss efforts. Community informed public policy interventions that improve access to healthy food options and incentivize weight loss efforts were identified as positive social change strategies. Such approaches could reduce obesity-related co-morbidities and provide policymakers and healthcare providers with culturally appropriate strategies that can work.

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