Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 May;97(5):907-12.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.077032. Epub 2007 Mar 29.

Family history of diabetes, awareness of risk factors, and health behaviors among African Americans

Kesha Baptiste-Roberts  1 , Tiffany L Gary, Gloria L A Beckles, Edward W Gregg, Michelle Owens, Deborah Porterfield, Michael M Engelgau
Affiliations

Family history of diabetes, awareness of risk factors, and health behaviors among African Americans

Kesha Baptiste-Roberts et al. Am J Public Health. 2007 May.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the role of family history of diabetes in awareness of diabetes risk factors and engaging in health behaviors.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1122 African American adults without diabetes who were participants in Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together).

Results: After adjustment for age, gender, income, education, body mass index, and perceived health status, African Americans with a family history of diabetes were more aware than those without such a history of several diabetes risk factors: having a family member with the disease (relative risk [RR]=1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.03, 1.15), being overweight (RR=1.12; 95% CI=1.05, 1.18), not exercising (RR=1.17; 95% CI=1.07, 1.27), and consuming energy-dense foods (RR=1.10; 95% CI=1.00, 1.17). Also, they were more likely to consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day (RR=1.31; 95% CI=1.02, 1.66) and to have been screened for diabetes (RR=1.21; 95% CI=1.12, 1.29).

Conclusions: African Americans with a family history of diabetes were more aware of diabetes risk factors and more likely to engage in certain health behaviors than were African Americans without a family history of the disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Brancati FL, Kao WH, Folsom AR, Watson RL, Szklo M. Incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American and white adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. JAMA. 2000;283:2253–2259. - PubMed
    1. King H, Aubert RE, Herman WH. Global burden of diabetes, 1995–2025: prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections. Diabetes Care. 1998;21: 1414–1431. - PubMed
    1. Harris MI, ed. Diabetes in America. Bethesda, Md: National Diabetes Data Group; 1995.
    1. American Diabetes Association. Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2004; 27(suppl 1):S5–S10. - PubMed
    1. American Diabetes Association. Screening for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2004;27(suppl 1): S11–S14. - PubMed

Publication types