Tamar Tertulien

Healthy Eating for A Health Liver: Changes in Dietary Behaviors in Three Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations Through A Community-Based Liver Cancer Education Initiative

Tamar Tertulien;¹ Ellen Kim, BA;¹ Wenyue Lu, ML, PhD(c);¹ Steven Zhu;² Nathaly Rubio-Torio, LMSW;³ Evelyn Gonzalez, MPH;⁴ Marilyn A Fraser, MD;⁵ Ming-Chin Yeh, PhD;⁶  Lin Zhu, PhD;¹ Grace X. Ma, PhD;^1,8 Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, MD, PhD;⁷ Yin Tan, MD, MPH;¹

¹Center for Asian health, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
²Pennsylvania United Chinese Coalition
³Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, Brooklyn, NY
⁴Voces Latinas Inc
⁵Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
⁶Nutrition Program, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY
⁷Department of Biological Sciences, and Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY
⁸ Department of Urban Health and Population Science, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Background: There is an increasing body of literature that suggests a relationship between modifiable dietary behaviors and alcohol use and liver cancer. We designed and implemented a culturally tailored community-based education program to promote liver cancer prevention.

Methods: Using CBPR approach, we implemented an educational initiative to promote liver cancer in the community settings in African, Asian, and Hispanic American communities in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and New York City. In this study, we used data from the pre-education surveys and follow-up assessments at 6 months post-education to assess the changes dietary behaviors and alcohol consumption among participants.

Results: The analysis sample consists of 344 participants recruited through community-based organizations, including 31 African Americans, 174 Asian Americans, and 139 Hispanic Americans. Among African American participants, the consumption scores of fruits (2.170 to 3.581) and poultry (2.613 to 3.677) significantly increased. In Asian Americans, the scores of non-refined cereals (3.362 to 4.282), fruits (3.385 to 4.374), red meat (2.655 to 3.195), poultry (2.420 to 3.736), and dairy products (2.851 to 3.701) significantly increased; consumption of vegetables (3.908 to 3.236) decreased. In Hispanic participants, the consumptions of poultry (2.173 to 3.554), dairy products (2.101 to 3.863), olive oil (3.022 to 3.489) went up significantly.

Conclusion: This community-based educational imitative generated different impacts in the three populations, further highlighting the needs for more targeted, culturally tailored efforts in health promotion among these underprivileged communities.

Acknowledgment: This study supported by TUFCCC/HC Regional Comprehensive Cancer Health Disparity Partnership, Award Number U54 CA221704(5) from the National Cancer Institute of National Institutes of Health (NCI/NIH) and by NIGMS/NIH award # 1SC3GM131949-01 (PI: Ming-Chin Yeh). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCI/NIH or the NIGMS/NIH.