Newspaper Articles - February 2006

February is Black History Month
And Heart Health Month
Obesity: Getting to the
Heart of the Matter
Dorene E. Carter, PhD, RD
Nutrition Consultant

February is Black History Month: A time to celebrate the great achievements of African Americans, past and present.

This month is also Heart Health Month. It is important for African Americans to take this time to learn more about heart health and the impact that heart disease is having on our community. Furthermore, we need to increase awareness of the factors leading to heart attacks and stroke and to be more proactive in trying to reduce those risks.

According to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), heart disease is the number one killer in this country. The evidence suggests that African Americans have a higher rate of heart disease than any other racial and ethnic group. It is estimated that as many as 40 percent of African American adults may have some form of heart disease.

One of the major risk factors for heart disease is obesity. Sixty-seven (67) percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, according to the CDC. But for African American adults, the figure is much higher. An estimated 80 percent of this population is classified as overweight or obese.

Simply put, Americans are eating too much and not getting enough exercise. To make matters worse, much of our daily diet consists of junk food, loaded with large amounts of saturated fats, harmful trans fats, sugar and salt.

Despite mounting evidence, many people still don’t get the connection. It is hard to believe that food that “tastes so good” could be so harmful. It is even harder when the junk food industry and fast food companies are spending millions of dollars in advertising, to convince us otherwise.

But we have to face facts. America is experiencing an obesity epidemic of mammoth proportion. If it were a bug, the government and every public health agency would be out there, with all their resources, trying to zap it. But because it is “a disease of the mouth,” no one seems to know exactly what to do.

All that having been said, I realize that food is an important part of the African American experience, as it is for every other ethnic and cultural group. And we should enjoy the foods we eat. But when those foods do more harm than good, it is time for a change.

That time has come. Over the last 25 years, we’ve allowed others, namely the junk food industry and fast food restaurants, to determine what we eat. And the consequences have been dire – an unprecedented increase in obesity and scores of preventable deaths, including a large number of deaths from heart attacks that don’t have to happen.

It is time to take back control.

Dr. Dorene Carter is a registered dietitian and professional nutrition consultant. For more information, write to drdorene@dailydietguide.com or visit us at www.dailydietguide.com.

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