Gonzales-Vigilar, Maria Carmen Rita V.2014-03-142014-03-141995-02-05etd-04182009-041138http://hdl.handle.net/10919/42130The study was conducted regarding the prevalence of risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among 150 Caucasian and African-American, low-income women and the effectiveness of a six-month intervention in reducing risks. Seventy-four and 76 participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, respectively. Intervention consisted of 18 lessons taught by EFNEP paraprofessionals. A family record, three random-repeat 24-hour food recalls, and a health risk appraisal were collected at pre- and post-intervention sessions. Lipid profile, height, weight, percent body fat, and body mass index were measured on a sub-sample of 75 subjects. Descriptive statistics, two-sample t-tests and ANOVA (P < 0.05) were calculated. Results suggest that African-American and Caucasian, low-income women have high risks for CVD due to excessive intakes of total fat, saturated fats, sodium, and fats and sweets, but have low-intakes of dietary fiber, calcium, milk, vegetables, and fruits. They also had high incidences of obesity and smoking and low levels of physical activity. The intervention was successful in reducing intakes of energy and fats, sweets, and increasing intakes of dietary fiber I vegetable, and fruits. No significant change occurred with lipid profiles, obesity, and smoking. A six-month education program resulted in significant dietary improvement, but interventions of longer duration, specifically targeting obesity, physical activity, and smoking, are needed to improve those risk factors.x, 190 leavesBTDapplication/pdfenIn Copyrightrisk factors - heart diseaseCVDLD5655.V855 1995.G669Thesishttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-04182009-041138/