HUS1353 Public Health Issue Paper

Public Health Issue Name Institution Course Code and Title Instructor Date Defining the Issue, Magnitude, and Scope The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines obesity as a person having an excessive and abnormal build-up of fat, posing a serious health risk to the individual. In the United States (US), obesity among African American women has become a huge concern (Lofton et al., 2023). Data shows that in every five African American women, four are either obese or overweight (OMH, 2022). This condition places them at an elevated risk for cardiovascular and metabolic illnesses. Research shows that obesity affects this group regardless of their socioeconomic status. Racism remains a significant basis for health disparities between African Americans and the general US population (Lofton et al., 2023). This creates a barrier to their access to healthy food, health insurance, medication, resources, and safety to promote and enhance physical exercise and access to medication. Evidence also indicates that cultural factors contribute a lot to obesity among African American women, where their body size perspectives and food preferences have led to this increasing obesity epidemic (OMH, 2022). The importance of the issue in Public Health Obesity is an issue of public health among black women because it involves certain health risks. These include complications such as Cardiovascular diseases. There is a close association between obesity and hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke and other cardiovascular illnesses which are prevalent among black women much more often than in whites (OMH, 2022). More so, being obese increases the risk for some types of cancers including Breast cancer, Uterine cancer, Ovarian Cancer and Colon Cancer. Furthermore, obesity results into respiratory difficulties like asthma and obstructive sleep a...