[Institution Title]
Review of Literature
In an article published in the Journal of the National Medical Association in 2010, the authors identified obesity and diabetes mellitus as the top two health concerns of African American men (Treadwell, et al., 2010). The same health issue, obesity has been named as the major concern of African American women (Vaewsorn, 2015). These findings had been supported with alarming statistics provided by reliable health organizations like the World Health Organization and the National Research Council. According to the recent statistics, approximately 69% African American men and 82% African American women are assessed to be under the obese category (Andrews, 2014). By virtue of a comparison it shows that nearly 75% of the African American community are obese, as compared to the whites 32.6% (Andrews, 2014).
Another study pointed out that poverty and low income are among the biggest factors that increase obesity among the identified ethnic group (Finances Online, 2016). Nutritionists have argued that the usually affordable food is less nutritious and calorie-dense products which help people to gain that extra weight. Quite significantly, another study has revealed that wealth disparity is the reason why there is the large gap in the prevalence of obesity among the Whites and the Blacks. In fact, according to report entitled “Less Than Equal: Racial Disparities in Wealth Accumulation” for every $1 earned by an African American employee, there is the equivalent $2 earned by a white employee who is working the same job and given the same amount of workload (McKernan, Ratcliffe, Steuerle, & Zhang, 2013).
Another issue that has been brought out relating to the high incidence of obesity among the African American group relates to the lack of a safe, conducive environment that would support physical activity. According to the US Department of Health and Human Ministry, approximately 70% of African Americans would be hesitant to engage in any physical activity like sports compared to their white counterparts (US Department of Health and Human Ministry, 2010). The Blacks have been stigmatized by the violent, hostile environment that even within a Black community or neighborhood people are just simply afraid to participate in any recreational activity like joining a sports group or a physical fitness group.
Similarly, the African Americans were also at risk of diseases that are associated with obesity. These include cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus (Andrews, 2014). In fact, mortality for heart attack and stroke are double the rate among African Americans compared to whites. In addition, 80% of African American who have weight issues have Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (Andrews, 2014).
One of the identified solution to address the problem of obesity among the African American sector was by eliminating the named health inequalities. Among these health inequalities include income disparity, access to free medical assistance, and access to conducive living environment (McKernan, Ratcliffe, Steuerle, & Zhang, 2013). If people are adamant to address the health issues that comes with obesity, then the community, especially the government should also be just as adamant to provide solution to the social issues relating to poverty and social inequality which were identified as the root of many health issues and concerns. The government fails to establish the connection between good health and healthy lifestyle.
Given the identified causes and solution to the growing incidence of obesity among African Americans, Emile Durkheim offered an explanation that could explain the phenomenon. From a functionalist’s perspective, obesity can very well be classified as a social issue caused by social imbalance. Furthermore, Durkheim believes that issues like obesity is embedded in the social structure because of factoids like cultural beliefs, values and behaviors that are collectively shared by the community. In this particular case, and as exemplified in several studies conducted in the past, obesity among the African American community is largely due to the stigma that the African Americans grew up into like the hostility in the community at large which prevents them from participating in physical activities like sports .
References
Andrews, J. L. (2014, September). Obesity Prevention in Black Community. Retrieved from The State of Obesity Website: http://stateofobesity.org/disparities/blacks/#footnote-3
Finances Online. (2016, February 25). Obesity and the Black American: Causes, Culture, Consequences, and Cost. Retrieved from Finances Online Website: http://financesonline.com/obesity-and-the-black-american-causes-culture-consequences-and-cost/
McKernan, S.-M., Ratcliffe, C., Steuerle, E., & Zhang, S. (2013). Less Than Equal: Racial Disparities In Wealth Accumulation. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.
Treadwell, H., Holden, K., Hubbard, R., Harper, F., Wright, F., Ferrer, M., . . . Kim, E. (2010). Addressing Obesity and Diabetes Among African American Men: Examination of a Community-Based Model of Prevention. Journal of the National Medical Association , 794-802.
US Department of Health and Human Ministry. (2010). Obesity and African Americans. Rockville, MD : US Department of Health and Human Ministry.
Vaewsorn, A. (2015, April). Towards a Holistic Understanding of Obesity among African American. Retrieved from Wesleyan University Website: http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2350&context=etd_hon_theses
