Karen M. Emmons ^1*, Anne M. Stoddard ², Robert Fletcher ³, Caitlin Gutheil ⁴, Elizabeth Gonzalez Suarez ⁵, Rebecca Lobb ³, Jane Weeks ⁵, Judy Ann Bigby ⁶

¹ Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Public Health
² New England Research Institute
³ Harvard Medical School
⁴ Dana-Farber Cancer Intitute
⁵ Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
⁶ Brigham and Women's Hospital

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: karen_m_emmons{at}dfci.harvard.edu.

	Abstract

Objectives: We analyzed outcomes from a study that examined social contextual factors in cancer prevention interventions for working class, multiethnic populations. Methods: Ten community health centers were randomized to intervention or control. Patients who resided in low income, multiethnic neighborhoods were eligible; the intervention targeted fruit and vegetable consumption, red meat consumption, multivitamin intake, and physical activity. Outcomes were measured at 8 months. Results: The intervention led to significant increases in fruit and vegetable consumption and multivitamin intake, and reductions in red meat consumption; no change was found in physical activity levels. The intervention effect was not changed when contextual variables that may function as cofounders or effect modifiers (e.g., gender, education, race/ethnicity, respondent and parents' country of birth, and poverty status) were included in the analyses. Conclusions: The intervention led to significant improvements in health behaviors among a working class, multi-ethnic population, regardless of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Interventions that respond to the social context of working class individuals across racial/ethnic categories hold promise for improving cancer-related risk behaviors.

Key Words: Cancer, Exercise/Physical Activity, Health Promotion, Nutrition/Food, Prevention

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