Operation Healthy Us, Part One: Targeting Obesity is Key to Tipping the Scales Back in Our Favor
Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2007
By: Monica Lewis, BlackAmericaWeb.com
EDITOR'S NOTE: "Tipping the Scales in Our Favor a Chore, But Targetting Obesity is Key" is the first of BlackAmericaWeb.com's four-part Operation Healthy Us series. Coming Wednesday: The feet: The foundation.
For years, Hollywood has been criticized for toothpick thin starlets who supposedly epitomize the standard of beauty.
However, blacks have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, often accepting a little extra weight as healthy, attractive and par for the course. But more and more African-Americans are becoming more than just "a little thick in the thighs." They are becoming increasingly overweight or obese, letting those extra pounds pile on the risks for many chronic diseases.
Today’s Take A Loved One to the Doctor Day activities aim to educate African-Americans on ways to reduce the weight and prevent the medical conditions associated with obesity, including heart disease and diabetes.
Obesity is quickly becoming the nation’s leading health crisis, with nearly 80 percent of black adult women and 67 percent of black adult men now overweight. When it comes to our community’s children, the numbers are even more alarming. Approximately 20 percent of blacks between the ages of 12 and 19 are overweight, and -- for the first time in our nation’s history, the current generation of young people is not expected to outlive their parents because of the health risks they face because of weight problems, including diabetes and hypertension.
Nelson L. Adams, M.D., president of the National Medical Association, said he wants people attending Doctor Day activities to gain a sense of empowerment and use that feeling to take better control of their health.
“As important as access to medical care is, it is equally important to focus on what we have to take personal responsibility for to keep us well and stay well,” Adams told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “It’s really about personal choice -- eating right and exercising.
“Tuesday will be the day where we have decided personally to take care of ourselves,” Adams added. “By doing this, we will be well on our way to becoming a healthier community.”
Weight loss within the African-American community has been a major topic in recent years, especially with the emergence of community-oriented weight-loss programs like the 50 Million Pound Challenge, sponsored by State Farm Insurance. The challenge, which kicked off in April, not only inspires weight loss; it motivates people to think more critically about how they lead their lives.
“The very good news is that we have the ability to reverse these unhealthy trends,” Ian K. Smith, M.D., the brainchild behind the 50 Million Pound Challenge and health expert on VH-1’s "Celebrity Fit Club," said on the 50 Million Pound Challenge website. “For many of us, it’s not just a matter of fitting into a smaller size, but a matter of life and death. The Challenge can do so much, not just for our physical health, but for our minds and spirit too.”
Individuals who are overweight face both minor and severe health problems. But doctors say the drastic increase in heart-related problems when a patient is obese is startling.
"Being obese puts an extra strain on your heart and increases your risk of heart disease, blockages and heart attacks," Denise Golden, a Dothan, Alabama-based cardiac nurse told Dothan’s CBS affiliate WTVY-TV.
According to the 50 Million Pound Challenge's Web site, which is updated hourly, its participants have lost a combined total of over 733,000 pounds in just over five months -- shedding not only weight, but the greater likelihood that they will be diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer or other diseases.
Dr. Ian will join morning show host Tom Joyner at the Martin Luther King Family Clinic in Dallas, Texas, one of several cities from which "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" will broadcast live as part of its Doctor Day initiative.
While many of us think losing weight is about vanity, for the severely overweight and obese, it is often a matter of life and death. In 2003, when popular singer Ruben Studdard won "American Idol," he was adored by many and nicknamed the “Velvet Teddy Bear” because of his silky voice and expansive waistline. But no amount of money or record sales could prevent Studdard from facing the fact that he was at risk for major health problems. He lost more than 70 pounds after beginning a diet and exercise program when concern over his family history of hypertension and diabetes grew.
Studdard even became the celebrity spokesman for “Scale Back Alabama,” a program sponsored by the Alabama Health Department. The campaign urged 25 percent of Alabamans to participate, a major task considering the state ranks third in the nation for obesity.
Acording to reports, Alabamans lost 78,472 pounds during the inaugural eight-week project, which ran from January through March of this year, and officials say it will be held again next year.
Many cities are providing star power to attract people to Doctor Day activities. In Philadelphia, Patti LaBelle is expected to attend an event at Einstein Medical Center, where Sybil Wilkes will do a live remote from "The Tom Joyner Morning Show." In Cleveland, crooner Eddie Levert will be on hand to spread a message extolling the importance of taking better care of ourselves.
LaBelle has made it no secret that she has worked on her weight over the years as chronic illnesses, like diabetes and cancer, have taken the lives of her loved ones. And weight was a major health concern for Levert’s son, Gerald, who died last November at the tender age of 40.
Keith McFayden of Radio One Cleveland said they have expectations to exceed the number of attendees -- 1,400 -- who participated in last year’s event. The reason why African-Americans are affected at such disparate numbers could be environmental, McFayden told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
“A lot of our folks are in areas where they just don’t have the ability to get the care they need,” McFayden said, adding that Doctor Day is a major step in the right direction. “This one day is certainly not enough, but it is a wake-up call.”
Doctor Day festivities in Cleveland take place at the MetroHealth Buckeye Health Center in Cleveland, where screenings for asthma, bone density and cholesterol, among others, will be conducted.
“If you have this kind of focus, it is one barrier broken,” said McFayden, adding that picture-perfect weather of 76 degrees is expected to bring people out en masse. “We really want people to be moved to action.”
|
