Obesity crisis in the African American community has many people going under the knife. What African Americans should know before they make the call
May 21, 2006 (Press Release) --
Gastric bypass surgeries have increased dramatically in recent years, jumping more than 500 percent worldwide in the last eleven years, from 16,800 operations in 1993 to 140,640 in 2004, according to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. African Americans make up 9 percent of those patients, and the average age is around thirty-nine, according to data complied by the International Bariatric Registry.
Plastic surgery used to be frowned on in the African American community. “Being cut” tapped into both a mistrust of the medical profession and an aversion to altering one’s features to look “more white” (Michael Jackson predictably comes up in that discussion). But high profile celebrities, like singing legend Patti LaBelle, have made so-called surgical makeovers more acceptable among blacks. In just two years, the number of black cosmetic surgery patients has grown by almost one-third, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, jumping from 375,025 in 2002 to 487,887 in 2004.
Gastric bypass surgery is far more serious than a cut and fold, however. Desperate to be thin, African American men and women are willing to risk their lives having their stomachs cut and reconfigured. They see surgery as a shortcut to ridding themselves of all their problems along with pounds of fat. They view weight loss surgery as a magic bullet, a symbol for taking control of their lives, a renewal of hope. They consider hair loss, additional surgeries, and eating complications after gastric bypass operations are a small price to pay to be thin.
Fortunately, most people who undergo gastric bypass will not die. Weight loss surgeons quote the mortality rate as one death out of every two hundred patients. But a study by the University of Washington cites an even scarier statistic: one death in every fifty, when taking into account all weight loss surgery patients at all hospitals that will suffer and die from various surgery-related complications such as blood clots, fluid leakage, and infections. In addition, the people who want the surgery most--those with so-called “co-morbidities,” such as diabetes and heart disease--face the greatest risk of having something go wrong.
Awareness and action are critical if we are to improve our health and increase the quantity of life for black people. Currently, life expectancy for black women is 75.5 years versus 80.2 years for white females. The statistics are even grimmer for black males, whose life expectancy is 68.6 years versus 75.0 years for white men.
For more about African Americans, weight and body image, pick up HUNGRY FOR MORE by Robyn McGee.
Logon to www.robynwrites.com or call (310) 722-5058
Plastic surgery used to be frowned on in the African American community. “Being cut” tapped into both a mistrust of the medical profession and an aversion to altering one’s features to look “more white” (Michael Jackson predictably comes up in that discussion). But high profile celebrities, like singing legend Patti LaBelle, have made so-called surgical makeovers more acceptable among blacks. In just two years, the number of black cosmetic surgery patients has grown by almost one-third, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, jumping from 375,025 in 2002 to 487,887 in 2004.
Gastric bypass surgery is far more serious than a cut and fold, however. Desperate to be thin, African American men and women are willing to risk their lives having their stomachs cut and reconfigured. They see surgery as a shortcut to ridding themselves of all their problems along with pounds of fat. They view weight loss surgery as a magic bullet, a symbol for taking control of their lives, a renewal of hope. They consider hair loss, additional surgeries, and eating complications after gastric bypass operations are a small price to pay to be thin.
Fortunately, most people who undergo gastric bypass will not die. Weight loss surgeons quote the mortality rate as one death out of every two hundred patients. But a study by the University of Washington cites an even scarier statistic: one death in every fifty, when taking into account all weight loss surgery patients at all hospitals that will suffer and die from various surgery-related complications such as blood clots, fluid leakage, and infections. In addition, the people who want the surgery most--those with so-called “co-morbidities,” such as diabetes and heart disease--face the greatest risk of having something go wrong.
Awareness and action are critical if we are to improve our health and increase the quantity of life for black people. Currently, life expectancy for black women is 75.5 years versus 80.2 years for white females. The statistics are even grimmer for black males, whose life expectancy is 68.6 years versus 75.0 years for white men.
For more about African Americans, weight and body image, pick up HUNGRY FOR MORE by Robyn McGee.
Logon to www.robynwrites.com or call (310) 722-5058
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