Obesity spike among Hispanic and black populations

Obesity and diabetes diagnoses are going up at an alarming rate among young people, and it’s especially concerning among our Hispanic and black populations.

If something doesn’t change, we could see a generation dying prematurely from heart attacks, strokes and other medical complications.

Eating processed or high-sodium foods may taste good, but their impacts on your health are far from good.

“Black Americans, we’re, like 40-49% of the obesity, but right now, [in the] Hispanic community, that’s like 45 to 49%,” said Dr. Antonio Gonzalez, community medical center in Immokalee.

Gonzalez said most of his patients are Hispanic. The group in recent studies is showing the highest rates of obesity and diabetes.

“One reason why lifestyle modifications — a lot of people don’t have the income to buy the good food. I can tell you that stress and emotional situations tend to make people eat more,” Gonzalez said.

These eating habits are leading to these health risks at an alarming rate, now in younger adults, ages 20 to 44.

“I expect that in about 10 years, half of the population of the United States will be obese or severe, severely, morbidly obese,” Gonzalez said.

Studies also show a rise in heart attacks, strokes and other complications in younger people, particularly in African Americans and Hispanics.

“Sometimes, you get out of bed at five o’clock to go to work, and you’re back home, you know, at 7 p.m., so, that’s a sedentary life from work to home and no exercise, and then you pick and choose whatever is here for you to eat at that time,” Gonzalez said.

He recommends making time for healthier choices now before it’s too late.

“No one wants to have a heart attack or an amputation, or no one wants to have diabetes or high blood pressure,” he said.

Some of the ways doctors in recent studies say the gap could be closed is by screening people for diabetes at earlier ages, expanding efforts to screen for high blood pressure in black adults and bringing awareness to these issues in both black and Hispanic communities.

To learn more about the studies mentioned in this article, click here.