Black women in the District suffer from obesity, diabetes, heart disease and generally poor health in alarmingly high numbers, and white women do not.
That is the finding of a study released early today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The study said there is a large disparity in the incidence of certain chronic diseases between black and white women.
Kaiser's study was based on data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Current Population Survey from 2004 to 2006. The study reflected health statistics in the states and the District.
In the District, the study also found wide gaps between black and white women in the incidence of other illnesses such as cancer and HIV and AIDS. According to the study, black women's poor health is tied to low education, poverty, unemployment, stress, bad living conditions and poor health care coverage.
Black women's health in the District also compared unfavorably with that of other minority women. According to the study, 36 percent of black women were overweight or obese, compared with about 10 percent of Hispanic and Asian women in the city. More than 7 percent of black women suffered from diabetes, compared with 2 percent of Hispanic women and 3 percent of Asian women. Fewer than 1 percent of white women suffered from diabetes, and 7 percent were overweight or obese.
"Black women in the District are really struggling," said Cara James, a senior policy analyst at Kaiser and the study's lead author. "This is a chronic condition that we know is related to poverty and the availability of nutritious food and the opportunity to exercise."
No comments:
Post a Comment