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By Kendrea Parsons

The American Obesity Association reports that obesity in the United States occurs at higher rates among blacks and Hispanic Americans than white non-Hispanics. The difficulty with obesity is that it leads to other health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, experts say.

Of these heath problems, local health professionals say diabetes appears to be the prevalent problem for the Hispanic population in the Tri-Cities.

“I would say that Type 2 diabetes is probably the primary concern of Hispanics in this area,” said Shannon Crawford, interpreter for the Johnson City Downtown Clinic, which serves many Hispanic patients from the area.

Blanca Taylor, a registered nurse at Northeast Regional Health Office, agrees.

“Diabetes is very high,” she said. “The problem is that it gets worse when they come [to America] and change [their] diets, eating more fast foods and stuff like that.”

Statistics show the trend is continuing. While obesity and diabetes are common problems in the U.S., Mexican-American adults are twice as likely as non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnosed with diabetes by a physician, the Office of Minority Health reports. More than 10 percent of the Hispanic population living in the U.S. has diabetes, according to the National Diabetes Education Program.

To put that figure into perspective, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates over 44 million Hispanics lived in the U.S. in 2006. More than 2 million Hispanics over the age of 20 have diabetes, estimates the National Council of La Raza.

In the Tri-Cities, not many programs offer health consultation and prevention programs specifically to low-income, adult Hispanics.

“There isn’t a specific program available for the adults, that I am aware of,” said Claudia Lopez, a registered nurse with the Washington County Health Department. “Obesity is a big problem for them.”

Health educators from local health departments offer health fairs and screenings, Lopez said, “but it’s not all the time.”

A major obstacle, she said, is access to health care.

“Many don’t have access to insurance,” Lopez said. “That’s the main problem. And they don’t have a private doctor that they can go to. The main resource they have is the Downtown Clinic. Most of them like going there because there are translators there and it’s easier for them when they can communicate.”

Taylor said some people do not make their own health a priority.
“They will take the children to the doctor but they, themselves, don’t go until they get really sick,” Taylor said. “They think they are healthy and that they don’t need anything.

“It’s just not important to them right now,” she said. “What is important is going and making money to send back home, support the family, buy the clothes, food and everything.”

Experts also report that the obesity rate, which can lead to diabetes, is not slowing among Hispanic children.

In his research on childhood obesity, Dr. Glenn Flores, professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin, writes that Mexican-American children have the highest obesity rates, with 22 percent overweight and 18 percent at risk.

Another study, conducted by the American Journal of Public Health, found that Hispanic children were twice as likely as children of any other group to be overweight or obese.

“More children are gaining so much weight,” said Taylor. “And for [some Hispanics], to see a child that is overweight, it is good because they see it as being healthy.”

She said the reasons more children are becoming overweight are simple.

“The children are eating all this candy and fast food,” Taylor said. “It is just easier for them to get candy now. Back home, we eat a lot of fruit.”

There are ways for children to get help before obesity becomes a problem.

One avenue is the U.S. gov¬ernment’s Women, Infants, and Children program. WIC is for low-income families with children five years old and younger, and Lopez said most local Hispanic families with children in that age group qualify.

The WIC program provides vouchers for certain foods that are healthy for growing youngsters and pregnant and lactating mothers. Those include cheese, milk, cereal and fruit juice, Lopez said.

“They usually have to see a nutritionist and [the nutrition¬ist] talks about healthy foods, how the child can be healthy,” she said.

“The child is measured, both weight and height, they check the BMI [body mass index] to see if the child is overweight and, if they see a problem, they try to work with the mom and teach [her] to get healthy foods for the child.”

For more information on obesity and diabetes, contact the Unicoi/Erwin Health Department at (423) 743-9103 or the Johnson City Downtown Clinic at (423) 926-2500.

Obesity is also associated with:

• Complications of pregnancy
• Menstrual irregularities
• Hirsutism (presence of excess body and facial hair)
• Stress incontinence (urine leakage caused by weak pelvic floor muscles)
• Psychological disorders, such as depression
• Increased surgical risk
• Increased mortality

_{Source: Weight-Control Information Network}