Why Black Women Are Fat

After reading Alice Randall article about 'Why Black Women Are Fat, i thought i should briefly review her commentary. Alice is a writer in residence at Vanderbilt University and the author of "Ada's Rules." She started her article with some frightening stats. about Afro-american women. I'll assume that they are correct.

"FOUR out of five black women are seriously overweight. One out of four middle-aged black women has diabetes. With $174 billion a year spent on diabetes-related illness in America and obesity quickly overtaking smoking as a cause of cancer deaths, it is past time to try something new."

She said that 4/5 black women are overweight. Overweight refers to increased body weight in relation to height. Meaning that the physical change is visible and recognizable. But if everybody can see it and know the health danger for having such a surplus of body mass, why do black women still put themselves in such precarious situation? Alice suggest that knowing the health risk is not sufficient to discourage black women in the USA to loose weight because their health risk fear is superseded by their cultural fear of being skinny. For many black women, being skinny means being undesirable by men. I know, it sounds bizarre to me too.

"too many experts who are involved in the discussion of obesity don't understand something crucial about black women and fat: many black women are fat because we want to be."

It is hard to save people from what they desire and long for. Actually i remember this quote from Derek prince: "God doesn't deliver us from our friends, but from our enemies". In order to change, we need to be willing to change. Unless the mind state of those who value fat on their bodies changes, there is not much that anyone could do to help them change.

At least Alice has made a decision to remedy this situation with the younger generation, particularly her daughter, by inspiring a new culture that values less body fat through sports (walk, dancing, etc.), food and any other things that might contribute to fattening her body (e.g. lack of sleep, etc.):

"I expect obesity will be like alcoholism. People who know the problem intimately find their way out, then lead a few others. The few become millions. Down here, that movement has begun. I hold Zumba classes in my dining room, have a treadmill in my kitchen and have organized yoga classes for women up to 300 pounds. And I've got a weighted exercise Hula-Hoop I call the black Cadillac. Our go-to family dinner is sliced cucumbers, salsa, spinach and scrambled egg whites with onions. Our go-to snack is peanut butter - no added sugar or salt - on a spoon. My quick breakfast is a roasted sweet potato, no butter, or Greek yogurt with six almonds. That's soul food, Nashville 2012."

So you too choose well what kind of legacy you'd like to leave to your children and to those who will look at you as a role model.

Check My Book here.