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REDUCE HYPERTENSION BY WALKING
AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN SHOW A REDUCTION IN HYPERTENSION AFTER WALKING PROGRAM The United States African American population is at greater risk than the population at large for death from cardiovascular disease. Physical activity can mitigate the factors that lead to cardiovascular disease in ethnic populations, but only if programs are designed to address the specific needs of individuals within the group.
Fitness professionals must understand the features and risk factors represented by cardiovascular disease as it affects different ethnic groups, rather than to generalize based on what works with the predominant population. Currently, inadequate research is available on exercise programs specifically for black persons or any other ethnic population. African American women in particular make up less than ten percent of population studies on prevention of cardiovascular disease, so it makes sense that little is known about how to develop a program that will address the specific needs of a group clearly at risk. |
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Implementing current knowledge may continue to result in low participation, although the proof is conclusive that exercise prevents-or at least mitigates-cardiovascular disease. In the September-October issue of ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal,� Reginald B. O'Hara, M.Sc., outlines a church-based program he and four colleagues developed for a community of pre-menopausal African American women. Admitting that the program's success may have been partly attributable to a health-awareness program with interpersonal relationships already established, the authors nevertheless built upon this strength and gained scientific information that is translatable to other social structures. They offer the following guidelines for success: Include leaders of the church who are interested in developing preventive exercise programs. Seek the help of community leaders. Select participants who are natural leaders. |
Include family members.
Provide heart rate monitors.
Stress the importance of exercise and its benefits in reducing stress, escalating energy levels, and preventing heart disease, not just weight loss.
Provide education on ethnic food preferences.
Arrange for education days during the walking program.
Develop incentive points for group participants.
Take a genuine interest in the personal goals of program participants throughout the entire session.
O'Hara points out details of the program and offers specific tools for fitness professionals who are interested in reaching this or any ethnic at-risk group. His group recruited 14 women from an urban church in the Midwest. The women ranged in age from 29 - 55 years. Instruction in monitoring exercise intensity preceded activity, as did testing for resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure and for healthy lifestyle behaviors. Starting with ten minutes of static stretching and 30 - 60 minutes of walking three days a week at 40 - 60% of each individual's maximum heart rate, the group gradually increased both intensity and time. Each participant learned to monitor her own heart rate, which provided increased personal involvement. By the fourth week of the program, the participants had increased their intensity to 60 - 75% of individual maximum heart rate. More importantly, they significantly decreased their resting diastolic and systolic blood pressure, significant for a group at high risk for obesity and hypertension. Finally, members of the group made a 4.8 average point increase in the Health Responsibility Score section of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle survey designed to measure healthy lifestyle behaviors. The authors found this especially encouraging, indicating that this meant increased awareness of healthy lifestyles, thus laying the groundwork for lifelong participation in a physical exercise program.
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