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C H A P T E R 1 0 Cultural and Religious Influences on Food and Nutrition 245

Table 10.4 Traditional Soul Foods and the Effects of Acculturation

Food Group Foods Commonly Consumed Effects of Acculturation

Grains Rice, grits, cornbread, biscuits, muffins, dry and Substitution of commercially made
Vegetables cooked cereals, macaroni bread for homemade biscuits

Fruit Green leafy vegetables (collard, mustard, turnip, Vegetable intake remains low and is
Milk and dandelion greens), kale, spinach, and based on availability; greens remain
Meat and Beans pokeweed are collectively known as “greens” popular.

Fats Corn, sweet and white potatoes Fruit intake remains low and is based
Beverages on availability.
Apples, bananas, berries, peaches, and water-
melon, eaten based on availability Greater consumption of milk, at least
among blacks living in urban areas
Whole milk (commonly referred to as “sweet
milk”) and buttermilk Packaged and luncheon meats are
popular; intake of fatty meats, such
A variety of beef, pork, poultry, and fish; oxtail, as sausage and bacon, is high.
tripe, tongue

Dried beans (pinto, navy, lima, butter, kidney);
fresh or dried peas (black-eyed, field, green,
crowder, butter); beans with pork; succotash
(corn with lima beans)

Butter, lard, bacon, fatback, salt pork, meat
drippings, vegetable shortening

Coffee, fruit drinks, fruit wine, soft drinks, tea

Source: Kittler, P., Sucher, K., & Nahikian-Nelms, M. (2012). Food and culture (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Nutrition-Related Health Problems

African Americans score just slightly below the national population average on the Healthy
Eating Index (HEI), a tool developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion that measures dietary factors, such as the
intake of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium as well as dietary variety (Ervin,
2011). In a study among patients with one or more chronic diseases, Blacks were 92%
more likely than Whites to have low diet quality (Chen, Cheskin, Shi, and Wang, 2011).
In general, African Americans

■ Are less likely than Whites to meet the USDA guidelines and have the lowest fruit and
vegetable intake among U.S. racial/ethnic groups (Casagrande, Wang, Anerson, and
Gary, 2007) (Fig. 10.3). They also have higher intakes of fat and cholesterol compared
to Whites (Chen et al., 2011). Fat intake is related to a high meat intake, the popularity
of frying, and high intake of fast foods.

■ Have a high prevalence of obesity. According to 2009–2010 data, the prevalence of obe-
sity (body mass index [BMI] Ն30) among adult Black American men is 38.8%; among
Black women, the prevalence is 58.5% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2012). Studies have shown that, in general, African Americans accept or are comfortable
with larger body sizes (Boyington et al., 2008) and may also feel less guilty about overeat-
ing (Satia, 2009).

■ Have double the rate of death from heart disease and stroke compared with Whites
(OMH, 2012a). African Americans are 60% more likely to have a cerebrovascular accident
than their White counterparts (OMH, 2012a).