African American Health: Creating Equal Opportunities for Health
- African Americans in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are more likely to live with or die from conditions that typically occur at older ages in whites, including heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
- African Americans ages 35-64 are 50 percent more likely to have high blood pressure as whites.
- African Americans ages 18 to 49 years are 2 times as likely to die from heart disease as whites.
- Social and economic conditions, such as poverty, contribute to the gap in health differences between African Americans and whites.
Public health agencies and community organizations should work across sectors, including education, business, transportation, and housing, to create social and economic conditions that promote health at early ages. Consumers can prevent disease and early death by eating healthy, maintaining a healthy weight, taking medication as prescribed, and getting screened for diseases.
Contact Information
Spokespersons
LCDR Timothy J. Cunningham, ScD
“It is important that we create opportunities for all Americans to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Public health professionals must work across all sectors including faith-based and community organizations to promote health at early ages.”
Timothy J. Cunningham, ScD – Team Lead, Division of Population Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Leandris Liburd, PhD, MPH, MA
“We have seen some remarkable improvements in death rates for the African American population; however, we still have a long way to go. Early health interventions can lead to longer, healthier lives. Diagnosing and treating these diseases in the early stages is an important step in saving lives.”
Leandris Liburd, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.A. – Director, Office of Minority Health and Health Equity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Related Links
- Press Release: African American Health – English (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0502-aa-health.html) | Spanish(https://www.cdc.gov/spanish/mediosdecomunicacion/comunicados/p_vs_salud-afroamericanos_050217.html)
- MMWR – Vital Signs(https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6617e1.htm?s_cid=mm6617e1_w)
- Vital Signs: Home(/vitalsigns/index.html) | May 2017 Vital Signs | Fact Sheet [PDF 2.0MB](/vitalsigns/pdf/2017-05-vitalsigns.pdf) | Topics(https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/topics.html)
- Vital Signs: (Spanish) Home(https://www.cdc.gov/spanish/signosvitales/) | 2017 Mayo – Signos Vitales(https://www.cdc.gov/spanish/signosvitales/salud-afroamericanos/index.html) | Fact Sheet [PDF 1.6MB](https://www.cdc.gov/spanish/signosvitales/pdf/2017-05-vitalsigns.pdf) | Topics(https://www.cdc.gov/spanish/signosvitales/topics.html)
- Vital Signs – African American Health: Creating Equal Opportunities for Health – English | Spanish
- Vital Signs – African American Health: Creating Equal Opportunities for Health – [PSA – 0:60 seconds]
- Page last reviewed: May 2, 2017
- Page last updated: May 2, 2017
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