• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2006

Disparities in health and disease between various population subgroups, such as racial and ethnic groups, are a major focus of public health research but also pose considerable challenges. Diet is a key contributor to disparities in many chronic diseases and conditions. Therefore, in order to understand and address racial and ethnic health disparities, it is important to characterize the dietary patterns of the populations of interest. African Americans are at higher risk for many diet-related chronic disease conditions, such as obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many cancers relative to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. In this report, I describe the diet-related chronic disease profiles of African Americans, characterize their dietary patterns and food preferences, identify demographic, psychosocial, environmental, and cultural factors that may affect their dietary choices, and propose strategies for improving the dietary and health profiles of African Americans.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.56-63
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• 2009

African Americans in the United States suffer from many health disparities such as obesity, diabetes or hypertension. Lifestyle factors including diet and physical activity play an important role in prevention of these health conditions. The purpose of this research project was to assess beliefs, barriers and self-efficacy of eating a healthy diet and self efficacy of shopping for foods such as whole grains or foods designated as low fat or low sodium. Additionally, the objective was to assess beliefs about healthfulness, appropriate consumption, and protective aspect of specific foods including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The assessment was done using a survey instrument developed for this study. Data collection took place at two church locations. Data were obtained from 57 African Americans, mean age 50 years old (SD 12.70) completed the survey. The majority of respondents (58.1%) were females and most (75%) had at least some college education. Generally, benefits of eating healthy foods received considerably higher scores compared to barriers of eating healthy. A belief that healthy foods would help to take care of one's body received the highest mean score while a belief that healthy foods are too expensive had the highest score from all barriers. The results showed high self-efficacy of eating and purchasing healthy foods, high awareness of knowledge regarding foods associated with disease prevention but low awareness of recommendations for fruits and vegetables. The high scores for benefits, self-efficacy and knowledge regarding eating healthy foods did not translate into the perception of intake of such foods. Most participants believed that they do not eat enough of healthy foods. Interventions design to help African Americans make dietary changes should be culturally relevant and should involved working on a community level utilizing messages that are familiar and relevant to African Americans.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.528-534
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• 2010

This study explores the influence of health behaviors and individual attributes on adolescent overweight and obesity using data from Wave II (Add Health). Structural equation model/ path analysis using maximum likelihood estimation was utilized to analyze the relationships of health behaviors and attributes with obesity. Results of the model reveal that the causal paths (adolescents' attributes and health behaviors) for overweight and obesity were different for African American and Caucasian adolescents. Generally, African Americans were more susceptible to overweight and obesity than Caucasians. Although increasing levels of vigorous physical activities lowers the risk for obesity among African American and Caucasian adolescents alike, low family SES and being sedentary were associated with overweight and obesity among Caucasians. No significant associations were found among African Americans. Increased hours of sleep at night relate positively with obesity among African Americans. These findings suggest important elements in the consideration of race in developing effective intervention and prevention approaches for curbing the obesity epidemic among U.S. adolescents.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.301-322
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• 2008

Pauline Hopkins's Of One Blood; Or, the Hidden Self was published in the Colored American Magazine during 1902-03. As a literary experimentalist and a political protester, Hopkins uses her fiction as a medium to overcome and ameliorate the violently racialized surroundings of the turn-of-the-century America. Having been faced with racist rhetorics and theories growing on biological differences between races, Hopkins must have felt an overwhelming urgency to challenge the heritage of slavery in American history. In order to speak out her political agenda in such a milieu, she needed a new setting as well as new narrative materials for the new era. She had to move the setting from America to Africa, the ancient utopian Ethiopia; her interest in the ancient African civilization reflects both a popular African-American vision of Africa and the movement of "black nationalism" of the time. She also needed materials from nineteenthcentury sciences, the newly evolving theories of psychology and mysticism (spiritualism/mesmerism), to explore the meaning of "the hidden self" which unfolds the complex nature of Hopkin's position on race, "blood," and African-American racial subjectivity. Hopkins in the novel explores not the color line but the bloodline. Tracing the horrific legacy of incest in the history of slavery, she attempts to redefine the true racial identity of African-Americans in America and to reconstruct their past, both family and race history. At the very center of her major tropes in the novel-such as "of one blood," "the hidden self," and incest-exists female body. Black female body, though it represents the violent site of sexual body (rape and incest) in slavery, ultimately becomes a vehicle to convey and preserve the truth of racial memory/past/history for African-Americans. As a conveyor of the past, black women not just connect the past and the present but also reawaken AfricanAmericans with the legacy of the African 'pure' bloodline. Hopkins's vision here necessitates the reevaluation of black women's role in family and history, heralding the 20th-century black feminine writing. With the major tropes, Hopkins clearly suggests that the blood of (African-)Americans is unrecognizably intermixed. Although the novel ends with ambivalence and without resolution on what Africa signifies, those tropes certainly offer her a vehicle for criticizing as well as for challenging the racial reality of America.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.41
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• pp.9.1-9.14
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• 2019

Background: There is no normative craniofacial anthropometric data for the Kenyan-African population. The purpose of this investigation was to determine normative anthropometric craniofacial measurements and proportional relationships for Kenyans of African descent and to compare the data with African Americans (AA), North American Whites (NAW), and neoclassical canons. Methods: Twenty-five direct facial anthropometric measurements, and 4 angular measurements, were taken on 72 Kenyan-African participants (age range 18-30 years) recruited at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. The data were compared with AA and NAW populations, and neoclassical canons. Descriptive statistics of the variables were computed for the study population. Results: Significant differences between both Kenyan males and females were detected in forehead height (~ 5 mm greater for males, ~ 4.5 mm for females), nasal height (reduced by ~ 4 mm in males, ~ 3 mm in females), nasal width (8-9 mm greater), upper lip height (> 3 mm), and eye width (greater by ~ 3 mm) compared to NAW subjects. All vertical measurements obtained were significantly different compared with NAW. Differences were observed in comparison with AA subjects, but less marked. Mouth width was similar in all groups. Angular measurements were variable. Neoclassical canons did not apply to the Kenyan population. Conclusions: Anthropometric measurements of NAW showed clear differences when compared with the Kenyan population, and variations exist with comparative AA data. The anthropometric data in terms of linear measurements, angular measurements, and proportional values described may serve as a database for facial analysis in the KenyanAfrican population.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.402-415
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to research the ideologies of African-American hair-styles according to cultural phenomena. This is a qualitative research using the books and theses about society, culture, hair and beauty, and materials of internet. The results are; Firstly, African-Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. About 75 percent of the dark-skinned people on this continent have hair labeled "kinky". Secondly, African hair-styles expressed Supernaturalism and Traditionalism in the formative period of African culture. African-American hair-styles reflected Colonialism in the period of slaves. African-American citizen's hair-styles showed Nationalism after 1960s' Black Pride Movement in the period of settlement in America, and expressed De-territorialism since the boom of 1970s' Reggae. Today, the wearing of dreadlocks, cornrows, and afros has transcended racial and religious barriers. No longer necessarily reflections of ancient traditions and cultural identification, they are just as often fashion items.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.169-191
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• 2014

This explores an African American male poet, Etheridge Knight, and his poems. He died in 1991 and had been wounded in the battle field during the Korean War (1950-1953). Particularly, engaged in the war as a boy soldier, due to his wound, he had turned to a drug addict. Despite his experience in the war, Knight didn't write poems much about the war and wartime experience. Rather than war experience, for Knight, the prison gave him a strong motivation to be a poet with Gwendolyn Brooks' help. Further, Korean scholars are not familiar with contemporary African American poets, and my study is an introduction of those poets. Since in Korea researches on African American poets have been relatively rare, it is needed to sincerely work on those poets. The none-white writers, above all, penetrate the undercurrent of canonized American poets and poems. By examining Knight's poems, I eventually align a notion of the ethnic with racial minorities in the U. S.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review is to explore end-of-life (EOL) care planning and the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) among people who identify as Black or African American. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) were used to guide and inform this systematic review process. The following academic electronic databases with publications that reflected the interdisciplinary fields related to the research objective were searched: APA PsycINFO, CINHAL, PubMed, Scopus, and Social Work Abstracts. Results: After the authors conducted the search, 14 articles (from 13 studies) ultimately met the criteria for inclusion. The results substantiated significant concerns highlighted in previous literature regarding SES and its relation to EOL planning, but also revealed an absence of original work and interventions to increase engagement in EOL planning among Black and African American populations. Conclusion: Black individuals deserve an equitable EOL experience. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers need to move towards advocacy and action to meet this important need.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.90-97
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• 2013

The L.A. riots, which happened during three days from April 29 to May 1, 1992, are viewed as the most deadly and destructive riots in American history. Depicted in blaring front-page headlines and violent pictures on television, this urban upheaval received epic exposure in many countries. In Korea, it was especially shocking due to the viewpoint that highlighted the conflict between Korean and African Americans. This paper aims to review the black-Korean conflict during the 1992 L.A. riots in a Korean movie, Western Avenue. It is a film that narrates the despair of Korean Americans in the context of the L.A. riots, while placing American ideologies on trial. It is the only feature-length film to portray the story of Korean Americans in the L.A. riots. This paper examines some of the factors that resulted from the 1992 L.A. riots before the discussion of Western Avenue. Then, the paper analyzes the story of the Korean American in the film, focusing on how this film deals with the black-Korean conflict during the 1992 L.A. riots.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.527-539
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• 2017

This case study examines the experiences of an African American student's successful second language acquisition in Korea. There is an increasing number of multicultural families in Korea; but few research on African American students' second language learning. In the past, some American researchers have analyzed African American students as academic underachievers for learning and there is a scarcity of research on African American students' successfully acquiring a second language. With this qualitative research design, the researchers interviewed, and observed an African American girl named Mary. The researchers also interviewed Mary's mother, teacher, and peers about Mary's Korean language development. The results of this study revealed Mary's determined efforts to become a fluent Korean speaker with support from family, community and friends. Mary underwent unique social and systematic supports for her language development. This paper concludes with the educational implication for multicultural language learners in Korea and the possibility to diminish the common stereotypes of African Americans as underachievers.