By: Eric Campos & Davontay Jacob
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What exactly is Obesity?
 Obesity is an abnormal accumulation of body fat ,
usually 30% or more over individual’s body weight.
 Obesity-a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher.
 There are exceptions, for example, athletes
 Obesity is being classified as an epidemic.
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(weight in pounds * 703 )
BMI =
————————————
height in inches²
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What is a Disparity?
 A Disparity is when something is not equal.
 A health Disparity is when a certain group (race) has a
greater percentage of a condition compared to the
entire information givers as a whole (state).
 Our Disparity is Obesity among African Americans in
Massachusetts.
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Why is Obesity a Disparity?
 Obesity is a disparity among African Americans in
Massachusetts, in 2009 64.2% of African Americans
were Obese, compared to the 42% cumulative of the
rest of the state.
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What does Obesity cause?
 Obesity leads to many health complications, for
example:
 Heart Disease
 Stroke
 Type 2 diabetes
 High blood pressure
 Allergies
 And even Cancers
 Prostate cancer
 Colon Cancer
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The Severe complications
The Cholesterol build up among people that are obese
also causes heart disease.
High blood pressure comes into play because of the
high levels of salt that many people consume.
Obesity is the second leading preventable cause of
death in the united states and may soon overtake
tobacco usage as leading cause
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Factors of Obesity
 There are many factors that contribute to Obesity and
that makes it a very complex health issue.
 Among the most important causes and factors;
 Behavior and Culture
 Environment
 Genetics
 Lack of Sleep
 Emotional Instability
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Behavior
 Spend many hours in front of the Television.
 Less demand for physical activity in school.
 Passive and Active exercise are both becoming harder
to get around to.
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Culture
 Soul food that has been passed down from slave
ancestry is a big factor. Soul food contains a lot of salt
and grease as it was survival food and that energy was
needed.
 African American men tend to look for women of
larger body sizes.
Environment
 Lack of recreation areas like gyms , parks, and trails.
 Work loads and long shifts tend to take time from
physical activities.
 Over sized food portions in America from restaurants
and fast food.
 Wealthier communities have three times more supermarkets that lower income communities.
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Genetics
 A called “thrifty gene” that came from ancestors whose
environment was unpredictable and where food was
scarce has been passed on and now it is unnecessary
and causing obesity in large numbers.
 Your genes also may affect the amount of fat you store
in your body and where on your body you carry the
extra fat.
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Emotions and Lack of Sleep
 Emotional instability has a huge impact on weight gain
and obesity
 Sleep loss has been seen to correlate to weight gain as
well.
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Prevention
 There are many ongoing efforts to control this
widespread disease.
 Exercise and healthy eating are the root of the
prevention.
 30-60 minutes of exercise a day, 4-5 days a week, or 150
to 250 minutes of exercise a week.
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Big steps
 Michelle Obama’s “Lets move” campaign has launched
as an effort to end childhood obesity in America.
 By making healthy food more affordable
 Focusing on exercise
 Improving the quality of school lunch
 And getting informed on nutrition.
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In Conclusion:
Why does it affect African Americans
more?
 The socioeconomic status of African Americans has a
big impact on the food that they consume. And their
lifestyles
 Some African American cultures are less prone to start
unhealthy dieting and exercising habits, or even starting
to exercise at all
 African American societies don’t judge as harshly about
body weight as do other societies.
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Sources
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National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. What causes overweight and Obesity. (July 9, 2011)
Retrieved from;
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/obe/obe_causes.html
Buzzle.com. Causes of obesity in America. (July 9 2011) Retrieved from;
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-of-obesity-in-america.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight and Obesity. (July 9, 2011)Retrieved from;
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/index.html
StateHealthFacts.org. Overweight and Obesity Rates for Adults by Race/Ethnicity, 2010. (July 12 2011)
Retrieved from; http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=91&cat=2&sort=a&gsa=2
The Office of Minority Health. Obesity and African Americans. (July 15, 2011)Retrieved from;
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=6456
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Differences in Prevalence of Obesity Among Black,
White, and Hispanic Adults --- United States, 2006—2008. (July 15, 2011) Retrieved From;
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5827a2.htm
IMDiversity.com. Obesity, Lifestyles and African Americans - What are the Correlations?. Date N/A)
Retrieved From;
http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/african/family_lifestyle_traditions/bpr_obesity1127.asp
NETWellness. African American Health, African Americans and Diet. Retrieved From;
http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/aahealth/healthybody.cfm
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