Alarming Statistics: Overweight & Obesity In Black Women

[MizAvalon]

Yes, I have to say this is true in my experience. I'm petite around 125lbs/ size 6. I always get called really tiny by most black women I encounter. Yes, 99% of the time they are overweight or obese :ohwell:

I have heard similar comments. It's like they believe anyone under 150 pounds is skinny. What's really sad is that so many think that blacks are "supposed" to be bigger.:perplexed

Sad, sad, sad. I try to help the women that I know(friends and family) by passing along any positive information that I get from here and from books about eating clean and living well. That's all I can do, the rest is up the them. But I do make an effort to try.

[MizAvalon]

This is so true, all my family cooked growing up was fried chicken, fried pork chops, yams, mac and cheese, greens seasoned w/ pork neck bones... the list goes on and on... and when someone would suggest a healthier alternative we would hear "this is how black folk eat, we don't eat that mess" or "we are meant to be thick, not little and skinny like white people" :ohwell:

Are we also meant to be the top percentage of people getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes? That's my usual comeback because I hate hearing crap like that.

It's like folks don't even want to try. There is entirely too much information available in this day and age for a person to be able to make changes if they really wanted to. Even if you don't have internet access, go to the library or bookstore, my goodness!

[adw425]

Well, this struck a chord as evident by the fact that I started typing and could not seem to stop...

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This information is not surprising because I see this kind of information daily as I edit grant proposals for a black medical school. By the same token, pretty much every proposal I edit/review is on addressing overweight and obesity in African Americans, which, as we all know, causes a host of problems -- hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, raises risk several-fold for all kinds of cancers and on and on ad infinitum. Over the last three years, most of the proposals on obesity and overweight have been geared toward addressing it in younger people now as many have the same type of health problems at 17 or 18 that blacks several years ago did not develop until they were in their 40s.

The increasing rate of type II diabetes (and hypertension) among black teenagers is alarming. The stress this places on the body is extraordinary as is the burden it places and will place on the healthcare system as a whole...As well, I see report after report on not only health disparities between blacks, hispanics and whites, but quality of care, access to care and information; in other words, disparities in how blacks are treated and what information is given to them, (which is why I would so like for us to be more informed and proactive in our own health) so nothing in the original post surprises me, unfortunately.

As I have stated, I work at a medical and we have a wellness coordinator on staff, who does her level best. We also have a WW program here. And, although we are always writing grants for funds to continue all of our research and outreach efforts, the internal outreach is not working all that well. A case in point is that I work out at lunch every day. (We have a nicely-equipped fitness center here.) There are maybe zero to eight other people who work out during that time and none of them are overweight and three of the eight are not black. One woman was overweight, but she has been doing WW for about six months now and has dropped a considerable amount of weight. Usually when I am walking to another building I see one or two people in our workout center, maybe one in the morning coming in and maybe three to five in the evening when I leave work, those are usually men. Of the 1000 or so employees here, I would say that 600 are black women and at least 450 are overweight to obese (although that number is likely a bit higher). Usually on my way back from the center at around 1:00 p.m., I see groups of these overweight women coming back from lunch with big bags of greasy food and a 32 ounce size of some kind of drink...and it increases my concern for them, for us as a whole....

My best friend was extremely overweight and has been since our college days, but much more so when I finally spoke with her about it. When I visited her last year, I said very tactfully and gently, you know Maureen (not her real name) I have never mentioned your weight, but I am going to now because I would much rather have you not speaking to me because you are mad at me rather than not speaking to me because you are not with us any longer. She now takes aerobics and swims, watches her diet very carefully and has lost an appreciable amount of weight, which has brought down her blood pressure considerably as well as reduced her risk for other chronic (and worse, fatal...) health conditions. As evident, she still speaks to me (smile)!

Thanks for posting KBragg and I commend you ladies who shared this information with others and are trying to get loved ones interested in taking better care of themselves.

[MzRhonda]

I think this is accurate if not on the low side. Most African-American females I see are "thick" as some like to call it. :perplexed

Sadly I see this in the schools with "our" girls - elem, middle and high. Most do not participate in gym(they go) and do not dress out. :sad:

[SelfStyled]

Thanks for posting this Kbragg- I am trying to be one less too. I am at the point where I am fed up, I have just had enough.

I have finally conquered the "hair" thing- I am a cowashing fool. Now that I have that behind me - I am focused on losing the weight. I refuse to be a statistic. I refuse.

[natural_one]

That is soo true. If it wasnt for the military teaching me a different way I believe I would be going down the same route. I get picked on all the time for eating "white people" food and for not eating fried chicken and all that. now I do eat it around holidays with my family, but not on a regular basis.

Hopefully some women on this board will read this and be inspired to start losing!

[Duchesse]

Sadly I see this in the schools with "our" girls - elem, middle and high. Most do not participate in gym(they go) and do not dress out. :sad:

I'm alarmed by the amount of jiggly bellies I see in the tween-teenage girls at my school, I can only imagine when they become women and their metabolism slows down. Sadly the gym at the school is really just the boys playing Bball and the girls sitting on the bleachers.

Eating corn chips and Tropical Fantasy soda for breakfast are part of the reason, as is a general lazy culture (American not just AA). I wish families and schools took nutrition as seriously as it needs to be taken.

[harrisda]

I work at a gym and 80% of the women (all races) are overweight. :nono:

[soulflower24]

Agreed. Most black women I see are overweight. It''s very impressive when I see one with a tight body.

This is very true; especially where I live. Even at school, some of these girls are entering their freshman year obese (at least by 50-100 pounds) so they are gonna gain more than freshman 15. It has gotten so bad that most black women's perceptions of thin are warped beyond repair. A lot of them encourage each other to stay fat cause as long as they dress nice and have a pretty face everything should be okay. It is just really sad and embarassing to look at the girls (not the people on this board because at least they are trying) because they have no since of shame in regard to what they are doing to their body. I don't even talk to the overweight people I know about trying to get that extra weight off their organs cause they get snappy and swear you trying to make them anorexic. I just wanna be in the minority of black women who are healthy, slender and fit. I am sure that number is probably 10% or less if you exclude all of the women who are not overweight but out of shape and unhealthy.

[MizAvalon]

I'm alarmed by the amount of jiggly bellies I see in the tween-teenage girls at my school, I can only imagine when they become women and their metabolism slows down. Sadly the gym at the school is really just the boys playing Bball and the girls sitting on the bleachers.

Eating corn chips and Tropical Fantasy soda for breakfast are part of the reason, as is a general lazy culture (American not just AA). I wish families and schools took nutrition as seriously as it needs to be taken.

I so agree. Back when I was in elementary and junior high, everyone knew who the chubby/fat kids were because there were only a few of them. Now it seems the reverse is true.:nono:

[MizAvalon]

I work at a gym and 80% of the women (all races) are overweight. :nono:

Bless 'em, at least they actually make an effort to go the gym.

There are a couple of really heavy ladies that I see at my gym sometimes. They pretty big so they can't really do a whole lot but I like seeing them in there. They do what they can and that's better than nothing at all.:yep:

[Sophisto]

What's sad is, everyone I tell that I want to loose weight, ask why. I am a size 14, but these women are MUCH bigger, and can't understand why I want to be healthy. Stating "you look fine to me, you must want to get skinny". I am fat I just want to be in good health, they act as if I am saying something bad, then try to make me feel guilty.

[SmartyPants]

Like I mentioned in my OP I get that as far as the overweight side goes, but over 53% OBESE!? Doesn't that concern you?

ETA: That is so true about American perception. I mean 70% of EVERYBODY is overweight and 33% considered obese. It's so bad that clothing companies are faking their sizes just to make people feel better!

For example Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 which we would think was a pretty large (not huge) size. But what's wild is that the size 12 from then is today's size SIX!:eek:

My friend Jenn experienced this on a recent shopping trip. She's a Pear and hasn't bought new jeans in like forever (she takes really good care of her stuff, I gotta learn to do that lol). Well she walked out of the store with some size 7/8's! She was like "Wow I dropped 4 clothing sizes without losing any weight or inches! Best diet ever:lachen:

Vanity sizing is the devil!

[Pam Pam]

Thank you for bringing this up. I am definitely in the "obese" black women percentage and desperately want to lose all of these additional poundage. I have been trying to fit working out in my schedule and have realized just Sunday that I need not be superwoman and take better care of myself. Any of the other goals I'm pursuing will mean nothing if I'm not here to enjoy them.

I am also working on making my daughter healthy and teaching her healthy lifestyle habits. I just "tricked" (for lack of a better word) her into eating salad on Sunday by telling her she'll have pretty skin and be the greatest cheerleader ever. I was so surprised it worked. She's only 3 so by the time she realizes that it might not necessarily all be true, she'll be conditioned to eating salads and fresh veggies and it will be second nature.

This board is so much more than just long, healthy hair. I thank God for each one of you who help contribute to each of us being the best we can be.

Thank you, OP, for reminding us that we need to do better and get those myths right out of our thought patterns.

[caltron]

Yes sometimes we are our own worst enemy. :nono: We laugh at the white girls for wanting to be stick thin, but our attitudes are the flip side of the unhealthy coin.

[adw425]

I sent this out to our faculty and staff a couple weeks ago as sending out information from various studies is part of my job. This is from a press release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, but this study was disseminated and distributed widely from a variety of news, academic, biomedical and other sources.

Heart failure—a disabling and often deadly form of heart disease—is hitting African Americans in their 30s and 40s at the same rate as Caucasians in their 50s and 60s, according to a study featured as the lead article of the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

One in 100 African-American men and women developed heart failure at an average age of 39, 20 times the rate in Caucasians, according to Racial Differences in Incident Heart Failure Among Young Adults. Heart failure in African Americans was associated with risk factors such as hypertension and obesity that were already present when these adults were in their 20s.

[kbragg]

I sent this out to our faculty and staff a couple weeks ago as sending out information from various studies is part of my job. This is from a press release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, but this study was disseminated and distributed widely from a variety of news, academic, biomedical and other sources.

Heart failure—a disabling and often deadly form of heart disease—is hitting African Americans in their 30s and 40s at the same rate as Caucasians in their 50s and 60s, according to a study featured as the lead article of the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

One in 100 African-American men and women developed heart failure at an average age of 39, 20 times the rate in Caucasians, according to Racial Differences in Incident Heart Failure Among Young Adults. Heart failure in African Americans was associated with risk factors such as hypertension and obesity that were already present when these adults were in their 20s.

This is so true:nono: My Aunt passed away at the age of 40 due to Congestive Heart Failure. She was diabetic, had high blood pressure, and even had a heart transplant. I really miss her:( Unfortunately this is the norm healthwise for my family. The only thin people in my family are my brother (military) cousin (adopted) and sister (she just don't eat lol. Apparently it's pretty common with the deaf to be repulsed by food) and of course my white family members who eat that white people food:rolleyes:

On my husband's side my husband is the only one:nono: Even the kids are heavy so my kids get called "skinny" all the time:rolleyes: Heck I got called skinny when I was 200lbs:rolleyes:

[Supergirl]

80%--I'm having a hard time believing this.

[DayStar]

Im in the gym 7 days a week.....both my black male and female friend say "what for your so little"...or "you are going to lose your butt"...:ohwell:..they fail to realize its not only about weight loss ONLY but healthy overall being...wtf???...

What's sad is, everyone I tell that I want to loose weight, ask why. I am a size 14, but these women are MUCH bigger, and can't understand why I want to be healthy. Stating "you look fine to me, you must want to get skinny". I am fat I just want to be in good health, they act as if I am saying something bad, then try to make me feel guilty.

[Country gal]

The problem is we don't make time for exercise and to take care of ourselves. We try to do so much for others. Exercise is important to me too. I was working out frequently. I let some issues at work stop me from working out in the day time. The job became very stressful. I did that for a short period of time. I feel a lot of black women are doing so much for family, friends, the church but not making us a priority.