Title: 9 Black Health Disparities That You Should Definitely Know About
Headings: 9 Black Health Disparities That You Should Definitely Know About
9 Black Health Disparities That You Should Definitely Know About
This Black History Month, we thought it'd be a good time to remind you that despite all the good work that's been done, there's still a ways to go to improve black health and health care in the US.
1. Young black Americans are more likely to develop and die from chronic diseases that don't show up in white Americans until older age.
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2. Black people are more likely to die of all cancers combined than any other racial or ethnic group.
3. Black women are over three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related issue as white women.
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4. Black children are also more likely to die before their first birthday when compared to others.
5. A higher proportion of black people are newly diagnosed with HIV, living with it, or diagnosed with AIDS than any other race or ethnicity.
6. Many other sexually transmitted infections also disproportionately affect the black community.
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7. Black people in the US are more likely to have mental health problems than other people.
8. More black children kill themselves than white children, and it's a rising trend.
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9. Finally, black people are victims of violence at farrrr higher rates than the general population.
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Content: More black children kill themselves than white children, and it's a rising trend. Digitalskillet / Getty Images
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It's true that suicide among elementary-aged kids is rare, but that doesn't mean it's any less important, and two recent studies — in the July 2015 issue of JAMA Pediatrics and the October 2016 issue of Pediatrics — have found dangerous trends in which the suicide rate for black kids aged 5 to 11 has been going up. Specifically, suicide rates among black children went from 1.36 per million between 1993 and 1997 to 2.54 per million between 2008 and 2012. ( During that same time the rates declined for white children.) And according to the most recent study, 36.8% of elementary-aged kids who committed suicide between 2003 and 2012 were black. These children were more likely to be male and less likely to exhibit depression, and the most common precipitating circumstance seemed to be relationship problems with family and friends. However, suicide rates between racial groups flip over as kids get older, and black teens and adults are less likely to kill themselves than whites. Advertisement
9. Finally, black people are victims of violence at farrrr higher rates than the general population. Onebluelight / Getty Images
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Black people have a rate of death due to homicide that is eight times that for white people, according to the CDC, and gun violence is the leading cause of death for black men between 10 and 24 years old.