Day 4: Diabetes and African Americans

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Today’s blog post will review the impact of diabetes on African Americans. Let’s first take a look at these statistics:

• The Obesity Society reports that over 17 million Americans (6.2% of the general population) have diabetes.

African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, which reports:

• 3.7 million (14.7 percent) of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes.
• African Americans are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as non Hispanic whites.
• 25 percent of African Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes.
• 1 in 4 African American women over 55 years of age has diabetes.

More information about weight and diabetes is available from the following websites:

Obesity Society

Health.com “Why It Pays to Lose Weight if You Have Type 2 Diabetes”

Kids Health, “Weight and Diabetes”

“Your weight and diabetes”

“Diabetes”

“Living with Diabetes: African Americans and Complication”

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• More Than 30 Million African Americans Are Diabetic (urbanbellemag.com)
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