BACKGROUND: Faith-based interventions hold promise for promoting health in ethnic minority populations. To date, however, few of these interventions have used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, have targeted both physical activity and healthy eating, and have focused on structural changes in the church. PURPOSE: To report the results of a group randomized CBPR intervention targeting physical activity and healthy eating in African-American churches. DESIGN: Group RCT. Data were collected from 2007 to 2011. Statistical analyses were conducted in 2012. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-four African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches in South Carolina and 1,257 members within them participated in the study. INTERVENTION: Churches were randomized to an immediate (intervention) or delayed (control) 15-month intervention that targeted organizational and environmental changes consistent with the structural ecologic model. A CBPR approach guided intervention development. Intervention churches attended a full-day committee training and a full-day cook training. They also received a stipend and 15 months of mailings and technical assistance calls to support intervention implementation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes were self-reported moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption, and measured blood pressure. Secondary outcomes were self-reported fat- and fiber-related behaviors. Measurements were taken at baseline and 15 months. Intent-to-treat repeated measures ANOVA tested group x time interactions, controlling for church clustering, wave, and size, and participant age, gender, and education. Post hoc ANCOVAs were conducted with measurement completers. RESULTS: There was a significant effect favoring the intervention group in self-reported leisure-time MVPA (d = 0.18, p = 0.02), but no effect for other outcomes. ANCOVA analyses showed an intervention effect for self-reported leisure-time MVPA (d = 0.17, p = 0.03) and self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption (d = 0.17, p = 0.03). Trainings were evaluated very positively (training evaluation item means of 4.2 to 4.8 on a 5-point scale). CONCLUSIONS: This faith-based structural intervention using a CBPR framework showed small but significant increases in self-reported leisure-time MVPA. This program has potential for broad-based dissemination and reach. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00379925.

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