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Black Women Unite For 'A Health Revolution'

Tribune photo by VICTOR JUNCO

Studies show 80 percent of black women are obese, and black women have higher rates of diabetes and heart disease than other American women.

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By IRENE MAHER

News Channel 8 Medical Editor

Published: July 3, 2008

I went to a revival a couple of weeks ago, and it wasn't in or near a church. It was a luncheon held in a packed private dining room at the Tampa Club, with its elegant furnishings and sweeping views of downtown.

Most of the 110 guests were black women.

They were there to hear some startling statistics about the health of their sisters. And they were there to learn about Prime Time Sister Circles, a program started by two accomplished, no-nonsense black women: Assistant U.S. Surgeon General Marilyn Gaston and psychologist Gayle Porter.

Gaston says the program will begin "a health revolution in Tampa."

Gaston and Porter wrote the book "Prime Time: The African American Woman's Complete Guide to Midlife Health and Wellness (Random House, $21.95) and developed Prime Time Sister Circles to save the lives of African-American women, who they say are dying at rates greater than any other women in the country.

"If you can change the lifestyle of one midlife woman, you also change her family, her church and her community," Porter told the group. The presentation started with music that brought the crowd of women to its feet. The women abandoned their grilled chicken lunches, hands raised, bodies swaying. Then the duo hit the audience hard with facts that weren't easy to swallow.

Eighty percent of black women are obese. Black women have higher rates of diabetes and heart disease than other American women. And, when black women get depressed, Gaston and Porter said, they head for the nearest $4 buffet. Prime Time Sister Circles is designed to change all that, through Gaston and Porter's free 12-week series of education circles. The sessions are designed to help black women battle such chronic diseases as diabetes, obesity and depression, all of which are largely preventable and treatable. The luncheon was the kickoff event for the program, which will launch Aug. 21 in Tampa.

The idea is to create and spread a circle of influence. If women talk to each other and hold each other accountable for their health, their lives will be changed, the two said. The more women who hear about better lifestyles, the healthier they will be, and those around them will become healthier, too.

"If you get your beautician talking about this, you've got 500 different heads hearing about health," Porter said. There were plenty of influential women in the crowd, including Betty Castor, a former state senator and former USF president; Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita; state Sen. Arthenia Joyner; and former Hillsborough County Commissioner Phyllis Busansky.

"You are leaders," said Sigrid Tidmore, president of Healthy Together Tampa Bay and one of those responsible for bringing Prime Time Sisters to Tampa. She asked the women in the room to help spread the word and help recruit volunteers to facilitate the circles.

One Tampa woman already onboard is Chloe Coney, district director for Rep. Kathy Castor. Coney, who lost a sister-in-law to complications related to diabetes, recently read "Prime Time." It was a painful read, she says, but it also was a wakeup call that black women need to take responsibility for their own health.

"Women - we're nurturers. We take care of everyone else. But you can't save someone else if you aren't living,'" Coney said. Each circle will meet once a week beginning in September at schools or churches. Groups will tackle a different topic every week such as healthy cooking, fitness, disease prevention and how to model healthy behaviors for the next generation. The program currently is recruiting women who are willing to participate in a free, three-day training program to become Sister Circle leaders. To volunteer or to learn more, contact Healthy Together at (813) 849-WELL, or visit www.Healthy-Together.org.

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