Americans are living longer than ever before. However, there are still many improvements to be made regarding public health and wellness in the United States, especially when it comes to health disparities. Chronic diseases, for instance, are unevenly distributed across ethnicities and genders, resulting in preventable deaths and exorbitant health care expenses.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a health disparity is a preventable difference in the burden a disease, injury, or health condition places on an individual, with an emphasis on differences that can be attributed to patients coming from socially disadvantaged populations. Health disparities often involve the quality, depth, or nature of services provided to a person from one of these populations, including lack of access to critical health services. That said, disparities may also arise from environmental or economic factors, such as living in an area with poor air quality or only being able to afford food with low nutritional value. Health disparities may also result from educational inequalities. As doctors and researchers continue to improve health outcomes for different conditions and medical events, eliminating disparities must remain a top priority.
With a foundational understanding of health disparities, Americans can begin to examine how these disparities play out when it comes to the nation's most pressing health issues, including sugar consumption. The vast majority of Americans qualify as overweight or obese, health conditions that can cause many serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Many Americans overeat in different categories, with the average American consuming about 34 teaspoons of sugar each day, or more than 500 calories, for an annual total of over 100 pounds.
Adults should only consume between 100 and 150 daily calories in the form of sugar. For context, the amount of sugar found in a standard 12-ounce bottle of soda is equal to the amount of sugar an American in 1822 would consume over a five-day period.
Some communities are at greater risk for the health consequences of added sugars than others. Males consume roughly three additional teaspoons of added sugar compared to girls. Non-Hispanic white adults consume 17 teaspoons of added sugar each day, compared to 19 teaspoons for non-Hispanic Black adults. Hispanic adults and non-Hispanic Asian adults consumed fewer added sugars, at 16 and 10 teaspoons, respectively.
However, health outcomes do not reflect these figures at all: Type 2 diabetes is far more common among African Americans and Asian Americans compared to Caucasians, and Hispanics living in America are 17 percent more likely to develop diabetes symptoms than non-Hispanic white Americans. Members of these communities often have less access to healthy, affordable ingredients, community resources such as nutritious cooking classes, and quality physicians.
Sugar consumption is only one health issue that disproportionately impacts the American public. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, accounting for approximately 480,000 deaths annually. According to the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, 27.1 percent of non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native adults use tobacco products, compared to 13.3 percent of non-Hispanic white adults. Research further indicates that American Indian/Alaska Native communities live with a higher risk of death from commercial tobacco use.
Finally, mental health is a major medical concern in America. Studies indicate that close to 1.3 million adults are psychologically distressed. While about 8 percent of the population deals with depression for at least two weeks per year, the condition impacts just 3.1 percent of non-Hispanic Asian adults, while 9.2 percent of non-Hispanic Black adults live with depression.
