From birth to death, Black Americans fare worse in measures of health compared to their white counterparts. They have higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, higher incidence of asthma during childhood, more difficulty treating mental health as teens, and greater rates of high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses.
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Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy or delivery than any other race. Black babies are also more likely to die, and also far more likely to be born prematurely, according to a project examining health disparities experienced by Black Americans across a lifetime.
Black children are more likely to have asthma than kids of any other race in America. They're also more likely to live near polluting plants, and in rental housing with mold and other triggers, according to a project examining health disparities experienced by Black Americans across a lifetime.
The drivers of the youth mental health crisis for Black children begin early and persist through a lifetime. Black children’s first encounters with racism can start before they are even in school, and Black teenagers report experiencing an average of five instances of racial discrimination per day. Young Black students are often perceived as less innocent and older than their age, leading to disproportionately harsher discipline in schools. Black kids are far less likely than their white peers to seek and find mental health care. In part, that’s because Black families often distrust the medical system after generations of mistreatment.
In a nation plagued by high blood pressure, Black people are more likely to suffer from it. And so, in the time of COVID-19, they are more likely than white people to die. It’s a stark reality. And it has played out in thousands of Black households that have lost mothers and fathers over the past three years, a distinct calamity within the many tragedies of the pandemic. About 56% of Black adults have high blood pressure, compared to 48% of white people. Three in four African Americans are likely to develop the disorder by age 55.
Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to develop Alzheimer's disease. They are less likely to be diagnosed and get treatment. The reasons are many and systemic and can be traced to American health inequities that follow Black people from birth to death. While evidence exists that certain genetic risk factors could differ by race and be a driver, the large disparities among racial groups can't be explained just by genetics. Poor medical care throughout life, and the stress of racism, can be factors.
