“600 Words” by Esther J. Cepeda
Let’s just face it: we’re fat. Ok, maybe not you, specifically, dear reader, but we Americans are tipping the scales.
The latest world ranking put our affluent girths at numbers five for men and eight for women, not surprising for the home of the super-size value meal. The statistics are astounding: the Endocrine Society of America and the Centers for Disease Control estimated from 2004 Census numbers that obesity currently results in an estimated 400,000 deaths annually and costs the U.S. nearly $122.9 billion bucks. And, just one mortality statistic for you just to put it in context: the number one killer of women? Heart disease – obesity’s good pal.
But there is, seemingly, a light at the end of the tunnel. The Journal of the American Medical Association just published a report called High Body Mass Index for Age Among US Children and Adolescents, 2003-2006 which posits that maybe the incidence of childhood obesity in kids ages 2-19 has leveled off. Possibly.
In terms of longitudinal studies, data collected from the 1960’s to 2006 is a small data set, and the authors didn’t make any firm proclamations. But after accounting for ambiguities such as the difference in what was considered obese then and today, researchers found that obesity rates in kids have held steady at 32 percent since 1999.
This is progress, this is good news! This proves that with education and advocacy lives can be changed…for some. For others the numbers are not as celebratory. Let us be happy that Hispanic and African American children are experiencing the possible plateau at the same rates as the rest of the population but in truth, compared to white kids, they’re still not doing very well.
The most recent data show that 14.5 percent of white girls ages 12 to 19 are obese compared to 20 percent of Mexican American girls and 28 percent of African American girls. Mexican American boys are also heavier than Caucasian boys. Any school teacher in America could accurately recite those statistics without reading the study but just by looking at their classrooms: Hispanic kids are fatter than other kids.
My colorblind side, of course, believes that no child should suffer from the kind of over-malnutrition that leads to Type-2 diabetes, increased risk of heart-attacks and general ill-health regardless of race or ethnicity. But my brown eyes see dark-skinned ticking time bombs and I wonder what the shape of our young Latino adults will be in 2050 when we make up 29 percent of the population.
And why should it matter to anyone who’s not Hispanic?
“Because the Latino is the backbone of the American economy,” Dr. Elena Rios, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Health Association told me yesterday. “We are fast becoming the biggest group [of employees] and the youngest. [The concern] is not just about helping ‘our community’ understand, it’s important that everybody understand that if we don’t control this we’re going to see more diabetics, more amputations, more blindness and lower employee productivity.”
“If we ignore this, it’s going to have a direct impact on the general economic health of America,” Elena said, “it’s going to be worse for Hispanics and for all the small business, hotels, factories, and every industry that relies on productive and healthy Hispanics.”
This is not an “immigration issue” so don’t bother emailing me to question the legality of these workers. The facts are that by 2050 most of the Latinos you know will be U.S.-born and as American as mami and apple flan. So let’s turn our attention to both.
“Food is an important part of the Latino culture,” Dr. Elena said sort of rolling her eyes, “we do believe in celebration and we have strong family values so our celebrations end up being every Sunday at dinner, but that’s why we need to communicate about how to eat right and eat better.”
“We can’t stop the good efforts to target the Hispanic population, and we have to do better at helping the non-Hispanic health providers share this knowledge with the communities they serve,” Elena said, “there is no magic bullet. It’s a social change, a transformation in society. It’s just like what happened with smoking it took us thirty years for knowledge and research studies to trickle down to everyday life.”
So bottom line: less obese kids is great all around but even less Hispanic and African American kids obese will be that much better. JAMA’s statistics aren’t cause for a sigh of relief and a turn to other matters. As Karen Carpenter and Dr. Rios said: “We’ve only just begun.” But we’re on our way, and already seeing the positive progress.
Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com
What is the definition of Hispanic? What is the definition of Mexican? In the early 19th Century Mexico had an African population percentage comparable to the United States at the time, about 20 % most of whom were slaves. Where are their genetic heirs today? In addition there is a substantial pure native American bloodline in Mexico e.g. Benito Juarez. Leaving Mexico to go to South America you have Alberto Fujimori a Hispanic of Asian / Japanese heritage and Eva Peron a blonde blue eyed European. Based on national origin and ethnicity Hispanics are the second largest American majority after German Americans. Hispanics are not a race. And the black African mulatto population in America is comparablae to the brown Native American mestizo population in Mexico in being brown.
Posted by: blackmamba | May 30, 2008 at 01:57 PM