AFRICANS AMERICAN OBESITY WIDESPREAD ACCORDING TO NEW STUDY

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Obesity Care Week 2023 (OCW) kicked off in late February, with a focus on the disproportionate impact of obesity on communities of color.

Health officials responsible for OCW said racial and ethnic minorities have a higher rate of chronic diseases. African Americans have the highest rate of chronic diseases.

According to recent data, almost 50% of African Americans have obesity, and approximately 4 out of 5 Black women have overweight or obesity.

The causes of obesity are complex, and a person’s access to healthy food, safe places to exercise and play, stable and affordable housing, access to quality health care, and social attitudes about body weight all play a role in whether a person will have obesity. However, communities of color face unique challenges in each of these areas, health officials stated.

For example, in the United States, only 8% of African Americans live in a census tract with a supermarket, while 31% of white Americans have one. This means that minorities more often shop in small stores or bodegas or eat at fast food restaurants. These places usually have less fresh food and more processed food.

Cultural attitudes about body weight also play a role, with non-Hispanic white women more satisfied with their body size than non-Hispanic Black women, and Hispanic women more interested in losing weight and eating healthy.

Evidence shows that the African American population has less of an impact on existing weight loss interventions, with Black men and women achieving smaller weight losses.

Health officials noted that this suggests that intensive behavioral programs result in lower levels of adherence in Black people than whites.

Founded in 2015, Obesity Care Week has a global vision for a society that values science and clinically based care and understands, respects, and accepts