Studies Show Black Women Are Healthier at a Higher Weight Than White Women

Studies Show Black Women Are Healthier at a Higher Weight Than White Women Studies reveal that African American women can weigh significantly more than white women and still be healthy. By examining two standards of measurement - BMI (body mass index) and WC (waist circumference) - researchers found that while white women with a BMI of 30 or more and a WC of 36 inches or more were at greater risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, black women with those same numbers were considered medically healthy. African American womens risk factors did not increase until they reached a BMI of 33 or more and a WC of 38 inches or more. Typically, health experts consider adults with a BMI of 25-29.9 to be overweight and those with a BMI of 30 or greater to be obese. Peter Katzmarzyks Studies The study, published in the January 6, 2011 research journal Obesity and authored by Peter Katzmarzyk and others at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, only examined white and African American women. No similar racial difference between black men and white men were studied. Katmzarzyk theorizes that the weight gap between white and black women may have to do with how body fat is distributed differently throughout the body. What many call belly fat is primarily recognized as being a significantly greater health risk than fat in the hips and thighs. Dr. Samuel Dagogo-Jacks Findings Katzmarzyks findings echo a 2009 study by Dr. Samuel Dagogo-Jack  of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association, Dagogo-Jacks research revealed that whites had more body fat than blacks, which led him to theorize that muscle mass may be higher in African-Americans. Existing BMI and WC guidelines are derived from studies of predominantly white and European populations and do not take into account physiological differences due to ethnicity and race. Because of this, Dagogo-Jack believes that his findings argue for a review of the existing cutoffs for healthy BMI and waist circumference among African-Americans. Sources: Kohl, Simi. Use of BMI and waist circumference as surrogates of body fat differs by ethnicity. Obesity Vol. 15 No. 11 at Academia.edu. November 2007Norton, Amy. Healthy waist may be a bit bigger for black women. Reuters Health at Reuters.com. 25 January 2011. Richardson, Carolyn and Mary Hartley, RD. Study Shows Black Women Can Be Healthy At Higher Weights. caloriecount.about.com. 31 March 2011.Scott, Jennifer R. Abdominal Obesity. weightloss.about.com. 11 August 2008.The Endocrine Society. Widely Used Body Fat Measurements Overestimate Fatness In African-Americans, Study Finds. ScienceDaily.com. 22 June 2009.

Idiots, Imbeciles, and Morons

Idiots, Imbeciles, and Morons Idiots, Imbeciles, and Morons Idiots, Imbeciles, and Morons By Maeve Maddox In a recent state election Arkansas voters were asked to alter the following constitutional phrasing: No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector. Legislators objected that the language was archaic and disrespectful. (Not to mention the fact that the law has never prevented idiots from voting.) As the current Arkansas state constitution dates from 1874, I decided to find out what the drafters meant by the word idiot. Idiot derives from a Latin word that referred to an ignorant, uneducated person. The word came into English from an Old French word with the same meaning. By 1300 idiot had acquired the meaning of a person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning. For a time, idiot was used by doctors to refer to a specific degree of mental retardation: A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term came to be regarded as offensive and is no longer used as a medical classification. Two other words once used alongside idiot as medical classifications are imbecile and moron. Imbecile derives from a Latin adjective having the sense of weak and entered English from an Old French word with the same meaning. For a time it was used to refer to physical weakness. For example an imbecile person might be someone unable to walk without crutches. The first recorded use of imbecile as a noun is 1802. Its medical definition was A person of moderate to severe mental retardation having a mental age of from three to seven years and generally being capable of some degree of communication and performance of simple tasks under supervision. Moron comes from a Greek word meaning stupid. Its meaning in the now disused system of medical classification was: a feebleminded person or mental defective with a potential mental age of between eight and twelve years who is capable of doing routine work under supervision In current English usage all three words are perceived as insults. Apparently idiot is the least offensive of the three since a publishing empire employs the word in its titles with great success. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?List of 50 Great Word Games for Kids and AdultsEmpathic or Empathetic?

Consumer Reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer Reports - Essay Example But those whose treatment consisted of mostly talk therapy did almost as well if they had 13 or more visits with the therapist." (1) More scientific data is needed before health professionals can determine whether or not this is true. Both problems are much more complex than the article indicates. Either can be strictly psychological and, therefore, benefit more from talk therapy than drugs. They may also stem from a strictly physical problem and, therefore would appear to benefit more from drugs. Or the third scenario would be that they are both caused by a combination of the physical and psychological. If this is true, then a healthy response to treatment would respond better to both treatments: talk therapy and drugs. Some early analyses seemed to suggest that medications were better if the client were severely depressed. Giving away their pro-drug bias, the American Psychiatric Association jumped on the results and recommended drugs as the first line of treatment in people who are severely depressed. Now, all too quietly, the truth emerges.