Many studies focusing on beliefs about health and health promotion have paid little attention to the life experiences of Black and other visible minority ethnic families in western societies. This paper is a report of a study exploring Black families' beliefs about health and the implications of such beliefs for health promotion. Ten Black families of African Caribbean descent, comprising 23 adolescents and 18 adults from the north of England, participated in the study through in-depth interviews conducted in their homes. Families' perceptions of health revealed several areas linked to their life experiences, including social exclusion, and their values and belief systems. There was evidence that the health belief patterns of Black adolescents may be different from those of their parents. While the parents were more likely to describe health in a broad, sophisticated way, including psychological and societal factors, the adolescents emphasized the behavioral aspects of health such as exercise and having a healthy diet, and appeared to be more concerned about individuals' responsibility to maintain their health. The findings suggest that health promotion practitioners in designing appropriate health promotion interventions for Black families should take into account their lived experiences, values, beliefs and the intergenerational differences in designing appropriate health promotion interventions. (Contains 2 tables.)