 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jabar Akbar, MPH, The University of California at Los Angeles, 14560 Clark St., #107, Sherman Oaks, CA 91411, 818-501-5464, donna.wright@apha.org
Background: African-Americans comprise about 13% of the United States population; but disproportionately die from heart disease, diabetes and breast and prostate cancers. In 2000 cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among African-Americans, accounted for 33.5 percent of deaths among African-American men and 40.6 percent among African-American. African-Americans are 2.0 times as likely to develop Type II diabetes than whites, have higher rates of diabetes-related complications, such as kidney disease and amputations, and experience mortality rates 30% higher than any other ethnic group. Hypertension, obesity, and physical inactivity are all independent risk factors for serious illness if significant lifestyle changes are not adopted.
Methods: A brief 1 page health survey was administered to attendees at the Los Angeles African Marketplace & Cultural Faire, an annual event that attracts about 300,000 people most are of African American descent. Study participants were 16 years and over. Of the 1147 completed surveys, analyses were restricted to African-Americans (n=704). Basic statistical methods such as cross tabulations, frequency tables and t-tests were used to analyze the data. All analyses were performed using SAS software, version 8.2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC).
Results: Every respondent was asked to rank their personal health, smoking status, diabetes, education and health care received. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated for only 245 subjects. Of those, 110 were overweight (BMI = 25-29) and 57 were obese (BMI ³ 30+). Although most associations were not statistically significant (p>0.05) we found reported fruit and vegetable consumption differed significantly between smokers and non-smokers (p<0.002). Diabetics had significantly higher glucose levels (p<0.001).
Conclusions: The lifestyle choices of the African-American participants of the African Marketplace are similar to those garnered from national datasets like NHANES III and the National Health Interview Survey. More emphasis should be placed on increasing healthier food opportunities, e.g., Trader Joe’s or Simply Wholesome Markets, in underserved communities. Physical inactivity is still a huge problem and maybe by shifting some of the burden unto organizations, i.e., implement paid exercise breaks, the obesity epidemic may decline thus resulting in lower chronic disease rates.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Diabetes, Physical Activity
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.