Health issues:Black/African Americans
In discussion prompt #2, I chose the population of Black/African Americans. Health issues between the two populations are different. It is difficult for African American to access healthy foods as compared to Americans. Africans have few supermarkets that can provide fresh produce and healthy foods as compared to whites who have many supermarkets that are adequately stocked with fresh produce and health products (Freeman et.al. 2017). Additionally, black Americans also have access to foods that are of low quality as compared to whites. As a result, blacks have higher chances of becoming obese and being diabetic. In most cases, the blacks reside in areas where air pollution is high, and as a result, they get access to contaminated air. The whites reside in areas free from air pollution, and they get access to quality air free from diseases. The blacks also reside in highly-toxic areas which have negative health impacts which have many cases of heart diseases and nervous system abnormalities.
Moreover, black male adolescents are more likely to die of homicide. It was estimated that adolescents from Africa are six times more likely to die of homicides than whites. Firearms are the major causes of homicides. The black males account for higher levels of firearm injuries as compared to whites. Firearm homicide accounted for higher deaths among the blacks as compared to the whites (Assari & Moghani Lankarani, 2018). The blacks have lower chances of accessing health insurance coverage as compared to the Americans, and the blacks have low chances of acquiring health insurance covers from their employers as compared to whites who can access health insurance covers from their employers. The black Africans also access health services from health organization of low standards, and they don’t have continuity in healthcare. Black Africans come from families who are financially struggling; hence it becomes difficult for them to access healthcare services as compared to whites who come from well off families.
References
Freeman, R., Gwadz, M. V., Silverman, E., Kutnick, A., Leonard, N. R., Ritchie, A. S., … & Martinez, B. Y. (2017). Critical race theory as a tool for understanding poor engagement along the HIV care continuum among African American/Black and Hispanic persons living with HIV in the United States: a qualitative exploration. International journal for equity in health, 16(1), 54.
Assari, S., & Moghani Lankarani, M. (2018, June). Poverty status and childhood asthma in white and black families: National Survey of Children’s Health. In Healthcare (Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 62). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.