Public health interventions have been widely disseminated to promote healthy lifestyles and behaviors in multicultural communities. As the United States and the world become a “global village,” the presence of these diverse communities has become more the norm than the exception. As a result, health researchers and practitioners increasingly acknowledge the importance of cultural adaptation and appropriateness for the effectiveness of health promotion interventions.

Multicultural communities consist of community members from diverse cultural backgrounds. The notion of multiculturalism refers to multidimensional cultural constructs including socioeconomic status (e.g., education, occupation), race/ethnicities, language, religions, and environmental circumstances. Thus, cultural groups share particular sets of values, beliefs, norms, and social behaviors, which may influence their health behaviors and practices that differ from those of other groups. In the United ...