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Research shows that when church leaders talk about ways to improve health, congregants tend to listen. That¡¯s why ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Cancer Society grantee Derek M. Griffith, PhD, is testing a church-based weight loss program for African ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ men.

¡°One of the challenges with men is that social norms and expectations encourage them to prioritize their jobs and families over their own health. Putting weight loss in a cultural context of the church, with the social support that men get from their family and church, may help to get men to focus on their health,¡± says Griffith, director of the Institute for Research on Men¡¯s Health at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

Griffith¡¯s weight-loss program, called Mighty Men, isn¡¯t just about improving overall health. It¡¯s also about reducing cancer disparities among black men. Death rates from colorectal cancer, one of several cancers associated with obesity, have remained about 50% higher in black men than in white men since 2005, according to Cancer Facts & Figures for African ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½s, 2016-2018. And black men have the highest cancer death rate of any racial/ethnic group of men or women in the US.

More About Mighty Men

The 6-month intervention will involve weekly 45-minute sessions of weight-loss education and social support, and weekly 45-minute sessions of physical activity led by a trainer. In addition, participants will get a Fitbit activity tracker and access to a tailored website that helps them set and achieve weight-loss and lifestyle goals. (A simple eating goal might be including a fruit or vegetable with every meal.)

Participants will also get text messages three times per week: a reminder to come to the sessions, an informational message that ties to the content in the session, and a message that appeals to what Griffith calls ¡°gender motivation.¡±

¡°Building on work from a previous ACS grant, a lot of that formative work has led us down a path to understand different aspects of masculinity and different ways that men try to be men,¡± says Griffith. He hopes that having insight into ¡°how black men understand the social, cultural, and environmental factors that promote or hinder their healthy eating or physical activity¡± will help participants and the program succeed.

Gendered Messaging

¡°What¡¯s unique about African ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ men, and particularly middle-age and older African ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ men is that regardless of how religious they are, they tend to be very spiritual. African ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ men tend to see life through the lens of spirituality in addition to masculinity,¡± Griffith explains. For example, they might feel they need to put family or work stressors in a spiritual context or they may look to God for help.

But that sentiment doesn¡¯t necessarily translate to taking care of their health. While women tend to be more proactive about it, men may not take action until they see a practical reason, according to Griffith. He says gendered messaging includes providing those practical reasons: ¡°Be healthy because it¡¯s going to help you be more effective at work. Be healthy because it¡¯ll help you in bed with your partner.¡±

Griffith¡¯s four-year ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Cancer Society grant to support Mighty Men takes effect this summer. He expects to be testing the intervention in 4 churches in Nashville and 4 in Flint, Mich.