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The Skinny On Obesity
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Published: January 17, 2008
Ian Smith's 50 Million Pound Challenge aims to attack the group most affected by the rising tide of obesity: blacks. More than 30 percent of all American adults are currently considered obese, but its impact on the health of black Americans is alarming:
Nearly 80 percent of black adult women are considered overweight or obese. More than 51 percent of those women are obese.
In Hillsborough County, 33.8 percent of black adults are considered obese, compared to 26.5 percent of Hispanics and 21.1 percent of white adults.
In 2003, the death rate for black Americans was higher than whites for illnesses often affected by obesity: heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
The life expectancy of black Americans (76.1 years for women; 69 years for men) is significantly lower than that of white Americans (78 years for women; 75.3 years for men.)
3.2 million, or 13.3 percent, of black Americans have diabetes. That includes one in four black adults ages 65 to 74.
High blood pressure affects more than 40 percent of black Americans 20 years or older.
Strokes are likely to affect 50 percent more black adults than white adults.
In 2004, 30 percent more black men died from heart disease, compared to non-Hispanic white men. And black Americans were 1.5 times more likely to have high blood pressure.
Sources: American Diabetes Association, National Institute for Health, American Obesity Association, Florida Department of Health, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
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