The Minority Action Committee ( Mac ) Of San Diego Essay

An estimated 97 million adults in the United States are overweight or obese (Klein 2000). “"Affecting one in five Americans – or more than 22 percent of the U.S. population – obesity is one of the most pervasive health problems in our nation right now," said George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of surgery and associate director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. "We need to implement steps to slow the progression of this national epidemic” (NAASO 1999). But the problem of obesity does not only affect the United States. "We now know that the growing prevalence of obesity is creating major health problems worldwide," said Dr. James O. Hill, president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Obesity was once regarded as unique to Americans, but it is now seen as a global health risk affecting developing and underdeveloped countries (AOA 2000). Obesity is increasing at an epidemic rate in the United States - 1.3% a year for women over 20. Rates of obesity among minority populations, including African-Americans and Hispanic Americans are especially high (AOA 2000). There is also a marked increase in obesity among children.

South Carolina has one of the highest rates of obesity in the nation and, proportionately, more Latino children aged 2–5 years are obese compared to black and white children in the state (Torres, Meetze, & Smithwick-Leone, 2013). In fact, the proportion of obesity among South Carolina Latino children between the ages of 2 and 5 years in 2009 was 37.3% compared to 27.3% and 26.4% for black and white children, respectively (Torres, Meetze, & Smithwick-Leone, 2013). Moreover, in 2011, about half of all middle-school children were not active, and approximately 30% of high school students were considered overweight or obese (Torres, Meetze, & Smithwick-Leone, 2013). These high numbers of overweight and obese children are startling because overweight

Research has shown an ethnic and racial disparity in the frequency of childhood overweight and obesity. Specifically, minority children face a disproportionately higher chance of obesity; Taveras, Gillman, Kleinman, Rich-Edwards, and Rifas-Shiman agree: “…many risk factors for child obesity are more prevalent among black and Hispanic children than among white children (p. 693). ” They go on to write that additional variables affecting those two minority groups include belonging to a lower socioeconomic class, sleeping less than their white counterparts, and a greater likelihood of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food after age two .

Children and adolescents, their health is of the most upmost importance. The child is impacting through everything they do in their lives and everything that they come face to. One of these factors that come into play into a child’s life is Obesity. Most importantly the racial and ethnic disparities that involve Obesity. Unless this issue of this inclining obesity is addressed, there will be assumptions that the amount of years a person will live will surely decline (Johnson, 2012). Obesity is a killer as it is the secondary killer and could well be our first if the people don’t take action (Johnson, 2012). Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as asthma and diabetes (Johnson, 2012). Seventeen percent of young adults in the USA today are obese (Rossen, 2014). The commonness of obesity has escalated throughout the years in Children and Young adults that were being seen in Adults (Caprio et al., 2008). There are many disparities in which affect children in every way but the one that affects the obesity in childhood is racial and ethnic disparities. The amount of obesity in childhood is increasing in all ethnic and racial groups but it is found that nonwhite population have the most amount of Obesity (Caprio et al., 2008). The Mexican- American and non-Hispanic black children have a heavier load to carry as of racial and ethnic subgroups (Rossen, 2014). As children are expose to different physical and social environments, they are wide-open to different

Unfortunately, childhood overweight and obesity rates in America have tripled the last three decades and tend to be much higher amongst African Americans. According to research done by UC Davis, “Nearly 40% of African American children are overweight or obese.”

Over the years obesity has become more and more prevalent in the United States. Currently, approximately 35% of Americans are obese. The Center for Disease Control statistics on obesity are alarming. They have reported the obesity rate to be higher in Non-Hispanic blacks than Hispanics. 47% to 42%, while 32.6% of Non-Hispanic whites are obese. In addition to ethnicity, the CDC looked at obesity among age groups. Obesity was found to be higher among middle-aged adults 40-59, rather than younger adults age 20-39. As far as socio-economic groups were considered, Non-Hispanic black and Mexican American men with higher incomes are more likely to be obese than those with low income. When genders were factored in, the opposite was found. Non-Hispanic

The prevalence of obesity and overweight in all age groups is as a threat to health as well as an economic burden. These individual eating and activity behaviors and choices, however, are shaped by factors in the social and physical environments of communities (Hill, 2003). It has hit the Hispanic community the hardest with Hispanic Americans 1.2 times as likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic Whites, children 1.6 times more likely to be overweight as Non- Hispanic White children and Mexican American women were 40% more likely to be overweight, as compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (OMH 2012). Why Hispanic people? There is no one specific answer but the problems it causes are very bad. Obesity is a major contributor to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Among children and youth, obesity may affect academic performance and emotional health, as well as lead to diabetes and other serious complications later

More than 8 percent of African American children ages 2 to 19 were severely obese, compared with 3.9 percent of White children (BMI greater than 120 percent

By 2030 researchers estimate that the Obesity rate will have gone up by 44%. That is only for kids (4-19). 21.4 percent of Latina females are obese, and 22.4 percent of Latino males are obese. 20.7 percent of black females are obese, and 18.4 of black males are obese. 15.1 percent of white females are obese and 14.3 white males are obese. 5.3 percent of Asian females are obese and 11.8 of Asian males are

While obesity and overweight levels have been rising for all socioeconomic groups, some groups of people are more affected than others. Relationships between socioeconomic status and obesity undoubtedly have complex explanations. Some studies have shown that people with low socioeconomic status are more likely to be overweight or obese than people with high socioeconomic status. Author also emphasizes that socioeconomic status causes disparities in health and shorten longevity for those who are most disadvantaged. The relationship between overweight or obesity and income is varies by race and ethnicity. For example, in a household with less than $10,000 of annual income about 33 percent of blacks are obese, about 26 percent of Hispanics, and about 19 percent of whites. Culture, race and ethnicity play an important role in determining the obesity rate. Critser emphasizes certain studies that show minority groups tend to have drastically higher obesity and weight related disease rates than

All Americans are at risk of developing obesity, with an obesity rate of 36.5% of the population (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). The increase of obesity in the United States has led to the development of other costly comorbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and even some types of cancer, and therefore should be avoided at all costs (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Although all groups are at risk for obesity, vulnerable populations such as low-income children, face

In the US, there are tremendous disparities in health outcomes across different racial and ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic, African American adults, in particular, are known to “bear a disproportionate burden of disease, injury, death, and disability” when compared to the rest of the population. Many factors contribute to these disparities. According to the CDC, among the contributors are “socioeconomic factors (e.g., education, employment, and income), lifestyle behaviors (e.g., physical activity and alcohol intake), social environment (e.g., educational and economic opportunities, racial/ethnic discrimination, and neighborhood and work conditions), and access to preventive health-care services (e.g., cancer screening and vaccination).”

Obesity levels disproportionately affect minority groups, with Mexican American, or Latino, populations bearing the largest burden. When compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (19%) and Non-Hispanic African American (19%) populations, Latino children show the highest rates of obesity (25%).6 In addition, Latino children have a higher incidence rate of type 2 diabetes and lower levels of physical activity in comparison to the national average in conjunction with higher levels of dietary fat intake and lower levels of fruit and vegetable consumption.7,8 Furthermore, the Latino population is the fastest growing minority

The topic of obesity in America is not a new one. In fact, the reality of obesity and its effects on America and its population has been mounting by the decade. Currently, more than 1/3 of adults in America are obese. This translates to 34.9% or 78.6 million people. Unfortunately, this number doesn’t even account for the youth of America (CDC, 2014). To call this an epidemic could almost be considered an understatement.

In 1970, only 5-7% of U.S. children were obese; today, over 17% of U.S. children and adolescents are obese (Johnson, 2012). One out of every three American children are either obese or overweight (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2016; American Heart Association, 2017; & Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], 2017). More importantly, obese children grow up to become obese adults, resulting in numerous preventable chronic diseases and increased mortality and morbidity (Johnson, 2012; ODPHP, 2017). Furthermore, childhood obesity creates is a financial catastrophe with over 21% of the United States’ health care spent on obesity, totaling over 14 billion dollars of the United States’ annual health care expenses (National League of Cities,