Date: 2015-04-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. National Minority Health Month is a very important time to bring awareness to the many health concerns facing minority communities. My colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and I understand the very difficult challenges facing us in the form of huge health disparities among our community and other minority communities. We will continue to seek solutions to those challenges. It is imperative for us to improve the prospects for living long and healthy lives and fostering an ethic of wellness in AfricanAmerican and other minority communities. Certainly. the Affordable Care Act. which I cosponsored and worked on has brought a new quality of life and access to healthcare for millions of Americans including minorities. I thank all of my CBC colleagues who been toiling in the vineyards for years developing effective public policies and securing the resources needed to eradicate racial and gender disparities in health and wellness. Let me focus these brief remarks on what I believe are some of the greatest impediments to the health and wellness of the AfricanAmerican community and other minority communities. The first challenge is reversing the dangerous trend of increasing obesity in juveniles and young adults. Cancer. diabetes and hepatitis are of great importance as well as combating the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Finally. we must confront the leading cause of death of young AfricanAmerican males between the ages of 1524. that cause is not disease or accidental death. but homicide. OBESITY Although the obesity rates among all AfricanAmericans are alarming. as Chair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. I am especially concerned about the childhood obesity epidemic among AfricanAmerican youth. More than 40 percent of AfricanAmerican teenagers are overweight. and nearly 25 percent are obese. In 2007. my office in concert with the office of Congressman Towns and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. held a widelyattended issue forum entitled. "Childhood Obesity: Factors Contributing to Its Disproportionate Prevalence in Low Income Communities." At this forum. a panel of professionals from the fields of medicine. academia. nutrition. and the food industry discussed the disturbing increasing rates of childhood obesity in minority and lowincome communities. and the factors that are contributing to the prevalence in these communities. What we know is that AfricanAmerican youth are consuming less nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables and are not getting enough physical exercise. This combination has led to an epidemic of obesity. which directly contributes to numerous deadly or lifethreatening diseases or conditions. including the following: hypertension. dyslipidemia (high cholesterol or high triglyceride levels). Type 2 diabetes. coronary heart disease. Stroke. gallbladder disease. osteoarthritis. asthma bronchitis. sleep apnea. and other respiratory problems. cancer (breast. colon. and endometrial. When ethnicity and income are considered. the picture is even more troubling. AfricanAmerican youngsters from lowincome families have a higher risk for obesity than those from higherincome families. Since the mid1970s. the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased sharply for both adults and children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). among AfricanAmerican male adults aged 2074 years the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0% in 1980 survey to 32.9% in the 2004. There were also increases in overweight among children and teens. For children aged 25 years. the prevalence of overweight increased from 5.0% to 13.9%. for those aged 611 years. prevalence increased from 6.5% to 18.8%. and for those aged 1219 years. prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.4%. As the debate over how to address the rising childhood obesity epidemic continues. it is especially important to explore how attitudes. environmental factors. and public policies influence contribute to obesity among AfricanAmerican males. Some of these contributing factors are environmental. others are cultural. still others are economic. and others still may be lack of education or information. But one thing is clear: we must find ways to remove them. CANCER Certain groups in the United States are not doing as well as others when it comes to preventing and surviving cancer. Many such disparities are apparent among certain minority populations such as African Americans and Hispanics. The reasons why cancer adversely affects these groups are largely related to issues such as poverty. access to health care. and other socioeconomic factors. The cancer death rate among African American men is 27% higher compared to nonHispanic white men. The death rate for African American women is 11% higher compared to nonHispanic white women. African Americans have the highest incidence rates of colorectal cancer of any racial or ethnic group. Hispanics have higher rates of cervical. liver. and stomach cancers than nonHispanic whites. Liver cancer incidence and death rates among Asian/Pacific Islanders are double those among nonHispanic whites. DIABETES About 19 percent of all nonHispanic black Americans age 20 or older (about 5 million people) have diabetes. the highest rate of any ethnic group. Among Hispanic adults. more than 2.5 million or about 11 percent of the population have diabetes. 14 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives are living with the disease. Compared with nonHispanic white adults. the risk of diabetes is 18 percent higher in AsianAmericans. 66 percent higher in Hispanics/Latinos. and 77 percent higher in nonHispanic AfricanAmericans.