As obesity has reached an epidemic level, the female population age 35 years and older is struggling with increased risks of death from type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers. The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of overweight and obesity among African American women 35 years and older in Houston, Texas. A phenomenological approach was adopted for this study to explore the perception of overweight and obesity among African American women 35 years and older in Houston, Texas. This study was also guided by the Health Belief Model as a conceptual framework in relation to overweight prevention and obesity control. Flyers were distributed to recruit participants from church, fitness center, and AllcareMedical Center. Ten African American women 35 years and older living in Houston, Texas were selected to participate for this study. The selected participants were either obese, overweight, at risk of being obese or overweight or had family member who is either overweight or obese. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect data, and the information collected was coded for themes. Findings indicated the need to engage in physical exercise and eating right as strategies to reduce the rate of obesity. The study contributes to social change through awareness and education as it encourages health professionals to use the findings to develop relevant strategies to understand the impact of obesity while using the perceptions of overweight and obesity to improve health and well being among African American women 35 years and older.

The history of Chinese restaurants in the American West shows that Chinese food became a part of the social and cultural realities for Chinese people, especially in the earliest years, partly because regional food helped maintain regional language and dialect. Beyond that, it also demonstrates how restaurants--even more than other service industries such as laundries--provide a living context in which Chinese met non-Chinese, and where the non-Chinese could become acquainted with Chinese art, eating customs, regional cookery, embroidery, and even family life. In other words, the Chinese restaurant became in time a bridge between the two cultures, and has therefore had an important function in intercultural relations. Moreover, certain developments in Chinese restaurant customs are found only in the United States (soup served first instead of last; everyone receiving a fortune cookie rather than one person getting a sign of good fortune); this fact testifies to a cultural dynamism among the otherwise conservative Chinese workers who established themselves in a strange land far from home. An interpretation and "decoding" of these elements from the viewpoint of a contemporary "mainland" Chinese forms the central discussion of this thesis.

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This dissertation demonstrates the Louisiana “Creole” culture from the Afrocentric perspective. This is unique as much of the research in the field has not been conducted from this perspective. It will specifically look at the language, food, music, dance, and spirituality of the southwest region of the state. These aspects were chosen due to their centrality and primacy in the culture, as well as their clear continuity from Africa. This research will also evaluate the African culture of Louisiana that is often defined as “Creole” and sometimes “Cajun.” It will interrogate the idea of “Creole” (creolite/creoleness, creolization), which is often defined as a mixture of various cultures/races and as a culture indigenous to a new land, through the theory of Afrocentricity. Ultimately this study is needed in order to demonstrate the Afrocentric claim that culture was not destroyed in the African Diaspora but instead maintained. / African American Studies

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