The Black Americans Community's Determinants of Health Essay Example

Introduction

The Black Americans community is among the fastest growing communities in America. Twelve percent of the total population in America is comprised of Blacks. In Texas, a survey conducted in the year 2017 by American Community Survey indicated that an over three million people or 11.6% of the total population in Texas are Blacks (Ramirez, Thompson, & Vela, 2013). African Americans are Christians and believe in God because they were shown how to pray and thanksgiving. They think that God is their foundation and he controls their lives. Black Americans value the family structure, and they see the family as a basis of support. Apart from religion and family, Black Americans value education to be the key to their success. Blacks believe that education is a promise to a lasting positive change. African Americans think that God is their healer; hence they do not see the need for attending healthcare.

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Determinants of Health

Determinants of health are the conditions present in the social, physical, and economic environment of a person regarding where the individual is born, working, staying, and also the age of the individual. The cultivation of disease begins at home and not in the hospital. Good health in Black American's community is determined by location, financial conditions, and daily responsibilities such as jobs. The social determinants of health include beliefs, socio-cultural institutions, norms, patterns, and everyday life's processes. An individual's social environment consists of the communication barriers, connections with friends, religious views, employment, poverty, criminal activities, and the quality of education (Micklesfield,.et.al, 2013). Black women especially those with low incomes have a low probability of engaging in a high level of health-promoting behaviors.

The physical environment is the area occupied by a person, and it can be natural or built. The physical environment contains the natural elements and built elements that people come across regularly. Physical environment motivates health to a person by providing access to health care professionals and nutritional foods. The physical environment can also ruin people's health by exposing them to harmful products and noise or air pollution. Social determinants have significant and detrimental effects on the health of a person; therefore, it is vital to raise awareness and improve the impacts caused by the determinants of health.

Health Promotion Action plan

Preventing obesity is important because obesity is a disease that causes death if not treated. Obesity can be prevented through a reduction of the body mass index and reducing the rate at which individuals are entering the body mass index. To accomplish this, adults are required to retain their healthy weight status by avoiding excessive weight gain (Dube, 2010). Adults in Texas who are obese or at risk of becoming obese are advised to:

• Increase the rate at which they consume fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and nuts.
• Avoid consuming food products with a high level of calories like alcohol.
• Increase the breastfeeding period.
• Ensure proper intake of micronutrients for the promotion of optimum linear growth.
• Increase the physical activities that help in burning calories.
• Have the information and skills required to make healthy food selections.

Relevant programs and approaches should be implemented by the health sector through different initiatives. For instance, one of the efforts is to direct the restaurants to include the calorie content on their food menus. Fruits and vegetables should be made available in the workplaces and accessibility of sugar-sweetened drinks that contain high calories should be limited. Healthcare facilities can also provide interventions that prevent obesity through screening for early detection of the obesity conditions and after that provide the necessary guidance (Phelan, Butryn, & Wing, 2015).

References

Dube, L. (2010). Conclusion: A Whole-of-Society Approach to Obesity Prevention. Obesity Prevention, 779-786. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-374387-9.00062-3

Micklesfield, L. K., Lambert, E. V., Hume, D. J., Chantler, S., Pienaar, P. R., Dickie, K., ... & Puoane, T. (2013). Socio-cultural, environmental and behavioral determinants of obesity in black South African women. Cardiovascular journal of Africa, 24(9), 369.

Phelan, S., Butryn, M., & Wing, R. R. (2015). Obesity Prevention During Adulthood. Handbook of Obesity Prevention, 489-514. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-47860-9_21

Ramirez, A. G., Thompson, I. M., & Vela, L. (2013). South Texas Population Characteristics. The South Texas Health Status Review, 7-9. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-00233-0_2