While Americans of all backgrounds are increasingly battling obesity, it’s a particular problem for the African-American community. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 37.6 percent of black men over the age of 20 are considered obese, and a startling 56.9 percent of black women over 20 suffer from obesity.
African-American women have the highest rates of obesity of any population in the United States. Black children also have higher rates of obesity than other races. For younger children, ages 2 to 5, the obesity rate is 11 percent. However, it’s between the ages of 9 and 14 – from the third to eighth grades — that the weight disparity between African-American and white children substantially increases. Read more…