Showing posts with label Health Disparities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Disparities. Show all posts

Monday, March 25, 2013

Using Liquid Nutrition to Combat Health Disparities

Hello friends,

                          Using Liquid Nutrition to Combat Health Disparities

I’m sure you’ve heard all about green smoothies and/or green juices. Green smoothies and juices are quick and easy to make. Most importantly, they are delicious and highly nutritious, because they flood our bodies with much needed fiber, nutrients, antioxidants, enzymes, and chlorophyll. I think they are an excellent way for us to engage in healthier behaviors, give our bodies the nutrients it needs, and do our part to eliminate heath disparities in our communities. 

www.liliashealthbook.blogspot.com
Minorities have the worse health conditions in the United States, with African Americans leading the pack. For example, obesity is one of the fastest growing epidemics in the United States, but even more so for Black women. For example, according to the Office of Minority Health, African American women are 70% more likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic White women. I think, we as Black women can reverse or even eliminate these statistics by incorporating more fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies in our diets. Here are two reasons why I think so.  

1.  Juicing has shown excellent promise in weight loss. How? Well vegetables and fruits are naturally low in calories and fat. So, replacing as many foods as you can that are higher in calories with fruits and vegetables in the form of a juice or smoothie would be wise to do for anyone who’s trying to lose weight. Moreover, fruits and vegetable juices and smoothies provide our bodies with large amounts of nutrients that are quickly absorbed by the body to help in the elimination of any nutritional deficiencies.

2.  Green smoothies are full of fiber, which is very important in the elimination of waste. Personally, I’ve noticed significantly more bowel movements (i.e. daily movements) since incorporating daily green smoothies. Fiber helps you feel full quicker and keeps you full longer. This is definitely ideal in anyone who’s looking to lose weight and to help build and maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

The health statistics for Black women are appalling and I for one did not want poor health to become my reality. I began incorporating green juices and smoothies in my diet as a way to increase my intake of more fruits and vegetables, because we all know that fruits and vegetables are good for us.

More information on green smoothies and juices can be found on the links below:

http://liliashealthbook.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-new-love-green-smoothie.html
http://liliashealthbook.blogspot.com/2012/06/berry-infused-coconut-smoothie.html
http://liliashealthbook.blogspot.com/2012/10/green-smoothie-recipe-3-celery-kale.html
http://liliashealthbook.blogspot.com/2012/02/green-smoothie-recipe-2-kale-spinach.html 
http://liliashealthbook.blogspot.com/2012/03/tips-on-eating-healthier.html
http://liliashealthbook.blogspot.com/2012/02/eating-healthy-is-sexy-fruit-vegetable.html

I hope this helps,

 

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Slavery, Segregation, Racism at the root of race-based health disparities in the U.S.

SLAVERY, SEGREGATION, RACISM  at the root of race-based HEALTH-DISPARITIES in the U.S.

The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story 
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie



I wrote a blog post on race-based health disparities entailing how blacks and other non-white groups continue to suffer disproportionately from almost every disease and illness imaginable. This blog post will shed light on how history, mainly the institution of slavery has contributed to race-based health disparities visible within the black community today. 

This is a sensitive topic, but as a Black woman (Afro-Caribbean) and upcoming professional in the health field, I wanted to provide sound research to dispel some myths that state black people do not care about their health, or that these disparities are solely a result of personal health behaviors, because that is just FALSE.

It is simply FALSE to say that people of color don’t care about their health. Do we really think that people prefer sickness as opposed to being happy and healthy?! No. Therefore, to direct assault on an entire group of people, is to ignore the institution of slavery and other acts of oppression, colonization, and exclusion that have been supported by governments here in the U.S. and around the world.

I think it is important to state that American politics, laws, policies and programs did not exist to serve the interests of everyone, especially that of Black folk. Slavery created a power dynamic that resulted in Black individuals experiencing high levels of oppression and exclusion that’s has a direct impact on socioeconomic status, health, and overall well-being.

To engage in debates and discussions on race based health disparities, we must get at the root cause of the issue and we must acknowledge and highlight slavery, because health disparities did not happen overnight. Disparities in health and health care have existed for centuries. Black people in the U.S. and in the diaspora have experienced poorer health than other groups from the very beginning of slavery. I think it’s important to put health disparities in this historical context that many researchers and academia seem to never mention.

The end of slavery was followed by the Reconstruction Era and the “Jim Crow’ period. During this period, laws limited and prohibited Black people from living. They could not exercise their voting rights and were reduced to substandard education, employment, and healthcare. Segregation in health care played a significant role in the health status of American Blacks. Black hospitals and nurse training schools existed in the 1920s, because black people experienced pervasive racism and discrimination in white hospitals at the time. In the early part of the C.20th, medical schools for Black doctors were created, because most existing medical schools would not admit Black students.

In 1932, 399 Black men thought they were being treated for syphilis, only to realize that 40 years later, that they part of an immoral experiment by the United States Public Health Service to examine how syphilis run its course if left untreated. They were never told that they were infected with syphilis, nor were they ever treated for it. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the men were told they were being treated for "bad blood," a local term used to describe several illnesses, including syphilis, anemia and fatigue. The men were intentionally not treated and were refused medication to cure this disease even when a cure was found for it. As a result, they infected their wives and wives then infected their children upon birth. In 1947, when the story was leaked to the media, the Public Health Service were forced to stop, but by that time dozens of the men had died, and many wives and children had been infected. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is a prime example as to why Blacks are distrustful of health professionals and institutions. 

So, please let’s not pretend that health status of Black people in this country is the fault of their own, because it is NOT. The systems put in place during and after slavery has created opportunities where Black individuals are disproportionately affected by illness and diseases in comparison to other racial groups, especially their White counterparts. The reasons for race-based health disparities have been documented by many researchers in the U.S., and they all stem from the institution of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, discrimination, and racism.  It is necessary to examine and bring into context the root causes of those disparities that we see so clearly today. Unfortunately, these health disparities will continue to threaten and hamper efforts to improve the nation’s health if they are not addressed.

These are my thoughts.






Sources:



http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume82003/No1Jan2003/RaceandHealth.html

Zinn, H. (1980). A people’s history of the United States covering the period 1945-60. New York: Harper & Row publishers, 1980.