A grant awarded to
Oakland University's School of Nursing will test the effectiveness of community health education of Arab-American youth.
A nearly $80,000 grant from the
Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation will pay for a program that will pair Arab-American students from Dearborn with teen mentors who guide them through healthy eating and lifestyles. The students' responses, lifestyle changes and health will be compared to the effects of similar lessons given to them by teachers in a classroom setting. The effect of parental involvement will also be measured.
The grant is part of BCBS Foundation's program called Improving Health Behaviors in Arab American Youth.
“This project has a special emphasis on obesity prevention and is targeted at reducing the number of chronic illnesses for young Arab Americans,” says Dr. Suha Kridli, the grant’s principal investigator. “We are going to offer specific guidance and provide practical tools that can improve students' overall health while lowering health care costs."
Dr. Kridl says Type 2 diabetes and obesity in Arab-American youth is increasing, while preventive programs are not.
The program begins this month in Dearborn, where the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the U.S. live, and will be administered in partnership with Wayne State University, Dearborn Public Schools and the Dearborn Board of Education.
Sources: Brian Bierley and Suha Kridli, Oakland University
Writer: Kim North Shine
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