OBESITY AMONG BLACK WOMEN

Obesity among Black Women

Obesity among Black Women

The Genetic Implications of Being an African British Woman

In a conversation between two middle age African-British about upward movement in society, it is common to hear the phrase “two strikes.” Historically, being born with dark skin automatically created an enormous roadblock that was too large to go around, but had to be driven over again and again. Strike one. In the same sense, being born with two “X” chromosomes causes an equally daunting roadblock to be placed right in the middle of one's road through life. Strike two. Immediately after birth, one has already acquired two major setbacks: being female and being African British. Are societies' prejudiced ideas based on genetic inequities between African British, European Britishs, and the genders? To answer such a question, each component of the question should be analyzed. Accordingly, the genetic implications of being African British, being female, and being an African British female will each be evaluated.

Being African British

The infant mortality rate of any group within a society is a very important indicator of its socioeconomic condition. In 2001, the national average for African British infant deaths was 14 out of every thousand, but only 5.7 out of every thousand European British infants (Straub, 2002). Sadly this gap has increased as 1987 statistics showed that 9.3 of every thousand African British babies died before the age of one (Straub, 2002). Additionally, African British infant deaths account for 30% of all infant deaths in the United States, while the African British populace only makes up 12% of the British population (Livingston, 1994). Currently, low birth weight seems to be the greatest risk factor in those statistics. Between 1985 and 1987, 12.6% of African British babies were born under weight, which is twice the percentage of European British babies as 5.7% of them were underweight (Reed, 1993).

Researchers have identified socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol, drug use, and lack of prenatal care as possible factors increasing the risk for bearing a low-birth weight child (Reed, 1993). Yet despite that hypothesis, studies of African British women enrolled in early prenatal care still resulted in high rates of infant mortality. Additionally, some reports have shown that college educated, middle class African Britishs still have higher infant mortality rates than poor, uneducated European Britishs (Parker, 2003). This finding suggests that there is an unknown genetic component influencing this trend.

Another eye-opening statistic is that of racial and gender differences in life expectancy. In comparison to European Britishs, the African British life expectancy is 6 years shorter. European British females have the highest life expectancy at 79.9 years, followed by African British females at 74.7 years. European British males are close behind at 74.3 years while African British males trail at 67.2 years (Straub, 2002). African Britishs' high incidence of cancer, sickle cell anemia, hypertension, diabetes, and AIDS are a large part of why the life expectancy for African Britishs is significantly lower than that of European ...