LIFESTYLE (7)
Many Black Women Don't Get
Enough Vitamin D
THURSDAY, June 20 (HealthScoutNews) -- Vitamin D deficiency is 10 times
more common in black women than white women, says a study in the July issue of
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (
news -
web sites).
From 1988 to 1994, researchers examined 1,546 black women and 1,426 white
women aged 15 to 49 years. None of them was pregnant.
The researchers found that living in cities increased skin melanin with low
rates of casual sunlight exposure, and not eating enough fortified milk or
cereal all contributed to the low vitamin D levels in black women.
They also found that 10 percent to 30 percent of black women in the study
who got adequate amounts of vitamin C from supplements had a vitamin D
deficiency. The researchers say that may indicate the standard "200-400 IU/day
of vitamin D in most vitamin supplements may not be sufficient for these
women."
Vitamin D is essential for skeletal health. Low vitamin D levels in
pregnancy may cause the fetus to receive inadequate amounts of vitamin D from
the mother.
An accompanying editorial in the journal says adequate levels of vitamin D
may lessen the risk of some cancers, Type I diabetes and possibly multiple
sclerosis. The editorial suggests that people who don't get enough sunlight
should take supplements that provide 800 to 1,000 IU/day of vitamin D.
For Info about Best Sources of
Vitamins and Minerals, Click
Here
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Traffic-related injuries and deaths
disproportionately affect African Americans
Traffic Safety and African Americans:
Fast Facts
- African Americans are three times more
likely to be injured or killed in traffic-related accidents than any other
racial or ethnic group, according to the CDC.
- More than 40 percent of all traffic
related injuries are among African Americans, according to a Johns Hopkins
University.
- Between 1989 and 1993, almost three times
as many African American children, ages 5-12, died in motor vehicle crashes
than white children in this age range (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
- Minorities are more likely to be killed in
traffic accidents where a driver was impaired by drugs or alcohol than whites
(Johns Hopkins University).
- Black and Hispanic teenagers travel in
motor vehicles less often than white counterparts, but they are nearly twice
as likely to die in a car crash than white teenagers, according to the Johns
Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Insurance Institutes for Highway Safety
Report).
- Just under half of all African American
killed in traffic accidents had been drinking (Fatality Analysis Reporting
System).
- Minority pedestrians account for
approximately 35 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities in cities with
population exceeding 1 million.
- Child safety seats reduce fatal injury for
infants (less than 1 year old) by 69 percent and toddlers (1-4 years old) by
47 percent (Traffic Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and
Analysis, 1997).
- In 1996, more than 60 percent of children,
age 14 and under, who died in motor vehicle crashes were unrestrained. (Traffic
Safety Facts, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1977).
- In 1998, motor vehicle crashes accounted
for 779,000 emergency room visits per year for African Americans --a rate of
24 per 1,000 people--compared to 14 per 1,000 for whites (Vital and Health
Statistics, CDC, Jan. 1998).
- Practicing better automobile safety
techniques could save more than 10,000 lives, 200,000 injuries, and $20
billion in cost to society annually (United States General Accounting Office
(GAO), 1996).
- Approximately 1,300 African American lives
could be saved and 26,000 injuries could be saved annually if African
Americans would use seatbelts, according to the Meharry Medical College,
General Motors Report on Seatbelt Use, 1999).
- A minimum of $2.6 billion in annual
societal costs could be saved if African Americans would use seatbelts,
according to the same Meharry Report.
- With a 90 percent seatbelt use nationwide,
the nation could save $356 million per year in Medicare and Medicaid cost
(Presidential Seatbelt Initiative, NHTSA, 1997).
- Campaigns to educate the public about
traffic safety have successfully improved traffic safety practices among
whites, but, for the most part, have been unsuccessful among African Americans
(Meharry Medical College).
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Ed. Note:
Those fast facts are reported, as you
can see, under the heading of Lifestyles, because we believe the
driving records of an individual or given community can be more closely
related to behavioral or lifestyle patterns than to any other factors.
Carl Gilbert, M.D., Editor & Medical Director of
http://www.Allaboutblackhealth.com
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