Title
Declaring April National Minority Health Month and commending the American Heart Association for their work promoting National Minority Health Month and addressing health disparities.
Body
WHEREAS, Health inequities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health due to language/cultural barriers, gender identity, lack of preventative care and health insurance resources, geographic location, fear of deportation, as well as a myriad of other issues or characteristics historically linked to discrimination and/or exclusion. Such disparities are often linked to social, economic, or environmental disadvantages, conditions categorized as social determinants of health, such as lack of access to good jobs, unsafe neighborhoods, and affordable transportation options; and
WHEREAS, According to national statistics, found in both Fact Sheet: Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity: Many Groups Suffer from Lack of Health Coverage and Preventable Chronic Illnesses (Lesley Russell, December 2010) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health data, African Americans have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease than other groups. According to the Office, African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese. In 2015, African Americans were 1.4 times as likely to be obese as non- Hispanic whites. In 2015, African American women were 60 percent more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white women. In 2011-2014, African American girls were 50 percent more likely to be overweight than non-Hispanic white girls; and
WHEREAS, Nearly 15 percent of African Americans have diabetes while a smaller percentage of Hispanics have higher rates of end-stage renal disease, caused by diabetes, and are 50 percent more likely to die from it as non-Hispanic ...
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