Prevalence of Health Disparities and Health Status

Racial and ethnic minorities experience substantial disparities in health:

• African Americans have a higher age-adjusted death rate for all of the 15 leading causes of death except for suicide and emphysema.
• Cancer death rates are 144% higher for American African males than White males and 123% higher for African American females than White females.
• Breast cancer age adjusted death rates are 19.3 per 100,000 for white women compared to 26.2 per 100,000 for African American women. Breast cancer death rates for American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic women are lower than that for White women.²
• African Americans are twice as likely to develop hypertension than other ethnic groups, and have higher incidence rates.¹¹
• Despite larger declines than White males and females since 1980, death rates for heart disease are 138% higher for African American males and 165% higher for females.

Disparities also exist regarding access to and use of health services by race/ethnicity. Racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to obtain specific kinds of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions compared to White Americans.¹⁵

Although chronic diseases are diseases of adulthood, the development of these diseases is impacted by lifestyle choices developed during childhood. The current epidemic of childhood and adolescent obesity is likely to lead to increased cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Contributing to health disparities among minority children is a lack of a comprehensive federal nutrition policy for children.

Current nutrition programs such as WIC, school feeding programs, Head Start, and food stamps target low income and at risk children. None of these programs serve all potentially eligible children, and adequate funding for these programs is not guaranteed.

Reimbursement for medical nutritional therapy for children is limited by requirements for a specific medical diagnosis, need for a referral and limits on number of visits.

Additionally, health plans typically do not cover prevention of or monitoring of chronic disease.²⁹

Health Status

Hispanic adults were by far the most likely to be in fair or poor health. Racial and ethnic disparities in health status persisted across both low and higher income groups. Hispanic adults in particular, were most likely to report being in fair or poor health (33%), and this rate was significantly different from that of any other racial/ethnic group.

In comparison, 23% of blacks and 20% of Native Americans and whites in the low income bracket reported fair or poor health status.¹

Minority children believe they are in poorer health than white children.

Self_Reported Health Status of Children Ages 17 and Younger by Race and Ethnicity

• Minority children report that their health is poor more often than white children, and report that they are in excellent health less often that white children.
• Hispanic children report most often that their health status is fair or poor.

Other factors impacting children's reported health status are

• Health insurance coverage: Children with private coverage are more likely to be in excellent health than uninsured children and children with public insurance.
• Education of parents: Children of high school graduates are more likely to be in excellent health, and children of parents with less than 12 years of education in fair or poor health .
• Employment of parents: Children with one or two parents who work are more likely to be in excellent health while children with no working parents are more likely to be in fair or poor health.¹⁶

Racial/ethnic disparities in death rates also exist for children, adolescents, and young adults. In fact death rates for African Americans are higher than any other racial ethnic group from birth to age 65.⁸

 

Death Rates Among Persons Ages 15-24 by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, 1996

• Among persons ages 15-24, death rates are significantly higher for males, particularly African-American males.
• Among males, death rates are higher for Hispanics and American Indians than whites.
• Among females, death rates are higher for American Indian/Alaskan Natives and African American then Whites.⁸