health disparity revised

Health Disparity among Black Americans.
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Health Disparity among Black Americans.
The paper herein analyzes the health status of the African American minority group. In its analysis, the paper will include details such as a comparison of the African American health status to the national average as well as the socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and cultural factors causing this disparity. Moreover, the influence of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and education on a minority group’s health. Towards the end of this research article, the three types of approaches to health prevention and promotion will be addressed, and the most efficient choice for the minority group discussed.
Cultural barriers to health
Poor health can be termed as a behavioral problem since much of the disparities in the prevalence of the problem regards behavioral differences among the different racial populations. A practical example supporting this argument is the case of obesity. On analyzing various minority groups, it is unequivocal that there is a substantial difference in eating habits as well as the level of engagement in physical activities. For instance, the African Americans consume a relatively higher percentage of fast food compared to other minority groups. As a consequence, a greater percentage of this minority group are more obese. Part of this problem can be attributed to cultural differences in the perception of body sizes among different ethnic populations.
Socioeconomic barriers to health
Majority of Black Americans’ families have low incomes; they have limited access to healthy foods.

They also lack access to safer locations that allow them to participate in healthy physical activities. There has been much evidence showing that in the neighborhoods where there are large populations of minority Black Americans there are fewer retail and supermarket chains where health foods are available. Moreover, the cost of the energy filled foods is lower than that of healthy foods making it hard for the Black Americans to access healthy foods.
Sociopolitical barriers to health
The CDC offers to fund to 25 states in the USA to develop their poor health prevention as well as control programs for the issue of poor health disparity is assuming a complex situation to handle. However, since many of the powerful and influential politicians are reluctant on the issues affecting the Black Americans, the poor health in them is not handled well. The NYDH (New York Department of Health) uses some of the federal funds to address the accessibility to fruits as well as the vegetable to the low income earning minority black American populations. This is not fully effective due to the inaccessibility of some of the residential areas where the black Americans hail.
Racial influence on health
The REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health) program, funds are given by the CDC with an aim of eliminating the ethnic and racial disparities in health. This applies community-based strategies/policies, systems as well as environmental approaches. For example, the REACH is working with the Black Americans in California and Los Angeles to create 35 physical activity network programs. Moreover, the REACH is working out to develop the health wellness programs even in the local work areas as well as the provision of healthy eating policies in collaboration with city officials.
Ethnic influence on health
The majority of the Americans of the African origin have an ethnic approach to health; they thus focus more on accessing food rather than its quality as well as health benefits. They concentrate much on the energy giving food and not on the healthy foods like the vegetables and fruits. This is specifical because their income is limited.
Educational influence on health
The Black Americans have limited access to education because they are low-income earners. Due to this problem majority of them are educated below college level. This their accessibility to high job professionals hence their incomes remain low. As a matter of fact, the Black Americans are thus not able to access quality health as well as health foods. They also lack understanding of the health living, for instance, the essence of physical exercise.
Current health status
Recently in the year 2010 the US met one of its Healthy people 2010 aims to reduce the poor health prevalence in the US adults by 15%. However, the Healthy people 2010 target of elimination of health disparities among the racial/ ethnic US’s population was not realized yet. To analyze the differences in poor health prevalence among the different races in the USA, the Center for Problem Control and Prevention (CDC) used analysis of data from BRFSS (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System). The data revealed a high prevalence of Poor health in the Black Americans as compared to the overall US population. This called for effective policies as well as environmental strategies with the aim of promotion of healthy eating, physical activities within all the geographic areas and populations. More emphases have been made to those areas and populations that reported a high level of poor health disproportionality (CDC, 2015).
Definition of health promotion
Health disparities among the black Americans as well as other racial/ ethnic populations in the USA are rising. Apparently, life expectancy, rates of death, infant mortality as well as other measures are increasing as well as the other health status, risk conditions and behavior standards. There has been a rise in the increased cases of poor health in Black Americans, and the number was the largest between 2007 and 2010. The overall prevalence of poor health in both men and women of African origin in the USA was the largest as compared to that of the white men and women (CDC, 2015). Poor health is linked with the increased costs of health care, reduced life qualities as well as increased risks of premature deaths. There are a plethora of common morbidities related to poor health such as coronary heart problems, stroke, hypertension, and diabetes type 2 as well as some cancer types.
Health disparities in Black Americans
The adults’ obesity prevalence among the Black American men and women in the period 2007-2010 was the largest as compared to that of the white men and women. The overall prevalence of obesity in the black American was largest as compared to the combined genders of the Americans from Mexican origin. There is a relationship between obesity and some problems like stroke; probably this is why the Black Americans had the largest death rates (2009) as a result of stroke and heart problems. Surprisingly the deaths were found mostly across the groups aged below 85 years. Also, the Black Americans in the years between 2007 and 2010 registered the largest prevalence of hypertension, another problem related to poor health. Much of these cases have been reported among the Black American adults aged 65 and above, those with education levels below college as well as those who suffered from diabetes and obesity (CDC, 2015).
Levels of Health Promotion Prevention.
Primary
The primary prevention approach may include instructional programs as well as community-based programs for enhancing health eating. This will also include the provision of the facilities as well as opportunities for physical exercise at all places and specifically to the Black American populations. This will include funding their nutritional as well as health programs as far as poor health is concerned. This approach is the least expensive of the three.
Secondary
The secondary prevention approach involves controlling the disease at its initial stage with the aim of preventing complications. In this instance, for example, it will include the community-based health programs to stop the disease at its incipient stage. For instance, the problems that arise from obesity such as hypertension and heart problems need to be prevented. This calls for more programs such as providing patients with drugs to cure complications caused by obesity such as the ones mentioned above at the initial stage of the diseases.
Tertiary
The tertiary approach involves the various techniques available to limit disabilities and impairments caused by the advancement of the disease to the full blown stage. Accordingly, the approach involves minimizing the suffering the patients might endure due to disease advancement and to make it easier for patients to adjust to conditions that cannot be cured. An example is when a person in the study group experiences full-blown hypertension, the tertiary approach would involve suppressing all the pain and complications that would result from hypertension such as migraines, nose bleeding, shortness of breath, etc. In a nutshell, it is an approach that tries to improve the quality of life of a person whose health has substantially deteriorated.
From the various approaches described above, it is clear that the best approach among the three is primary prevention. The reason for this conclusion is that this method bears many advantages such as it is the most cost effective, results in high patient satisfaction and results in better health. In the obesity case, eating healthy as well as engaging in physical activities regularly are techniques that can be used to prevent it. Accordingly, to promote healthy behavior, the CDC could recommend the incorporation of environmental, community and policy level strategies. Examples include making sure that healthy foods are made more accessible and affordable in Black American communities, or advertisements of entrees that are unhealthy, or limiting entrees portion sizes.

Works Cited.
CDC. (2015, November 28th). Black or African American Populations. Retrieved from CDC Center for Problem Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/REMP/black.html#Disparities
CDC. (2015, November 29th). Differences in Prevalence of Poor health Among Black, White, and Hispanic Adults — the United States, 2006–2008. Retrieved from CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5827a2.htm
Kersh, R. (2009). The Politics of Poor health: A Current Assessment and Look Ahead. The Milbank Quarterly; A multidisciplinary journal of population health and health policy, 295-316.
Kruger, M. (2010). Economic barriers to poor health in the USA. The Milbank Quarterly; A multidisciplinary journal of population health and health policy, 25-49.
Murphy, W. B. (2012). Poor health. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.