Obesity: A Health Disparity among African
Americans in Massachusetts compared to
the general population
By:Ruthy Weche, Irena Yankey and Maureen Kamanu
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What is a disparity?
A disparity is the difference in
prevalence, mortality, incidence, and
burden of a condition among a specific
population in comparison to a larger
group (general population).
Obesity
● Obesity is an abnormal
accumulation of body
fat usually 20% or
more over an
individual's ideal body
weight.
● Obesity is defined as
excess adipose tissue
(excess fat).
http://bariatrics.colquittregional.com/bmi-calculator/
https://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/images/body-mass-index-formula.jpg
Evidence of Disparity
● African Americans
make up only 8.1% of
the population in MA,
● Account for 33.6% of
the number of obese
people 18+
● 20% of African
American youth are
obese
Factors that make obesity a disparity
● Socio-economic status
● Culture
● Health behaviors and environmental
factors(accessibility to fast food)
● Health insurance status
● Education
● Amount of Exercise
Socio-Economic Status
● Income has an effect on the prevalence of obesity
● African American families make $1 for every $2 white families make in the
past 30 years
● Based off of income, African Americans and Hispanic Adults are more
likely to be overweight than White adults
● Statistics show that African Americans who make less money annually,
have a higher rate of obesity
Socio-Economic Status
Per Family
African
Americans
Culture
● Culture plays a key role in the foods one consumes
● African Americans are known for eating foods high in
salt and sugar which can result in obesity, high blood
pressure, and diabetes
Health behaviors
● Lack of access to affordable, healthy food
● Less nutritious food is usually higher in
calories, and less expensive
● People on a tight income are more susceptible
to buying such foods
● Limited access to supermarkets/ healthier
food options
Access to various foods
City
Number of McDonald’s in city
Percent of people below poverty line
Worcester, Ma
1/ 5.5 mi2
17.9%
Framingham, Ma
1/ 11.1 mi2
8.0%
Marlborough, Ma
1/ 8.8 mi2
6.8%
Health Behaviors or Environmental Factors
Whites
Blacks
Education and Awareness
● Education---> Knowledge---> Being informed instead of ignorant
● Black adults with a less than high school education or just some
college
● Proven by statistics, the more education that any ethnicity has,
including blacks, the less prevalent obesity is
● We need to start at an early age to prevent obesity by informing
children and youth
Massachusetts Graduation Rate
Caucasians 90%
African Americans 73%
Impact on our Children
“Like mother, Like
daughter”
Exercise habits
● Many Massachusetts adults and adolescents fall short
of the Surgeon General’s physical activity:
Recommends adults to get 30 minutes or more of
moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the
week
● Among people who are obese, Black and Hispanic
adults have lower rates of regular physical activity or
any physical activity in the last 30 days than White
adults.
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Health Insurance
In Massachusetts
● 2013: 90.2% of Whites
and 84.15%of Blacks, had
health insurance coverage
● Whites uninsured:
9.8%- Lowest among any
other race or ethnic group
● Blacks uninsured:
15.9%
In the U.S
● $147 billion per year
spent on obesity- related
health issues
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Treatments and Prevention
● Awareness/ Education
● Healthier School Lunch
● Eating Healthier: 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables
per day, decreasing intake of fatty foods
● Exercising: At least 30-60 min. a day
● Moderate weight loss is the best method (shedding 510% of body weight)
● Lifestyle
● Medication
● Surgery
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Necessity for Intervention
●
Obesity levels have doubled in the last 20 years.
●
One third of children in MA are obese.
●
Two thirds of the adult population are obese
●
African American adults who are obese are 1.5x more like to also report "fair to
poor health and living with diabetes”
●
Health Consequences of obesity: High blood pressure, stroke, cancer
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What’s in the news?
Obesity today 2015 research
Harvard Medical School
● One-day course providing education on obesity
Puerto Rico
● Lawmakers are considering a bill that would fine the
parents of obese children
Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act
● was aimed at creating healthier school lunches, but several
schools have rebelled against new rules
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Conclusion
● Obesity is a major disparity in African
Americans compared to the general
population
● We need to implement programs that
educate our youth at a young age to promote
a healthy mentality
Works Cited
1.
Jessica C. Smith and Carla Medalia, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-250, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013, U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2014. <https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-250.pdf>
2.
"Data by Race and Latino Orgin in Massachusetts, 2012." Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Web. 15 July 2015.
<https://www.umb.edu/iaas/census/acs/data_by_race_and_latino_orgin_in_massachusetts_2012>.
3.
"The State of Obesity in Massachusetts." State Obesity Data, Rates and Trends: The State of Obesity. Web. 15 July 2015. <http://stateofobesity.org/states/ma/>.
4.
"Overweight and Obesity." CDC. CDC. Web. 15 July 2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/stateprograms/fundedstates/pdf/Massachusetts-State-Profile.pdf
http://www.americashealthrankings.org/MA>.
5.
"Massachusetts Annual State Health Rankings." America's Health Rankings. United Health Foundation. Web. 15 July 2015.
<http://www.americashealthrankings.org/MA>.
Web. 15 July 2015. <https://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/images/body-mass-index-formula.jpg http://bariatrics.colquittregional.com/bmi-calculator/>.
Halpern, J. (2012, 08 22). Obesity in mass. among nation's lowest – why that's so frightening. Retrieved from
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/bbj_research_alert/2012/08/what-obesity-data-really-means-to-bay.html?page=all
"Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Rules Leading to Healthy, Hunger-free Trash Cans." The Blaze. Web. 21 July 2015.
"Health Disparities Council May 2012 Meeting Minutes." Http://www.mass.gov/portal/. Mass Gov. Web. 16 July 2015.
<http://www.mass.gov/hdc/docs/2012/july/5-7-12-minutes.doc>.
"Disparities in Health 2011." Http://www.mass.gov/portal/. Web. 16 July 2015. <http://www.mass.gov/hdc/docs/2012/jan/disparities-in-health-2011.pdf>.
"Obesity: Medline Plus." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 17 July 2015.
<http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesity.html>.
"The Massachusetts Report Card." Http://www.mass.gov/portal/. Web. 17 July 2015. <http://www.mass.gov/hdc/docs/2010/may/report-card-update.rtf>.
"Gastric Bypass Surgery Cost by State: 2015." Bariatric Surgery Source. Bariatric Surgery Source. Web. 17 July 2015. <http://www.bariatric-surgerysource.com/cost-of-gastric-bypass-surgery.html>.
"Gastric Bypass Surgery: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 18 July 2015.
<http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007199.htm>.
"Let's Move." Http://www.letsmove.gov/. Web. 18 July 2015. <http://www.letsmove.gov>.
"FACTS With a Very Heavy Heart Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)."Http://www.heart.org/. American Heart and Stroke Associations. Web. 18
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questioins
Questions
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