Problem
The untimely deaths of Dr. Irving and others like her are an all-too-common outcome for African American women, who face multiple stressors throughout their lives that may cause "Weathering." According to epidemiologist Arlene Geraniums, weathering involves the wearing down of one's body and one's health due to long-standing and far-reaching stressors.
These patterns are so pronounced that one of the fourmain goals of Healthy People 2020, the federal government's health agenda, is to "Achieve health equity, eliminate disparities, and improve the health of all groups," especially disparities on the basis of socioeconomic resources and race.
A recent study estimates that 1.3 million women and 450,000 men suffer from anorexia, 2.25 million women and 750,000 men suffer from bulimia, and 5.25 million women and 3 million men suffer from binge eating.
Eating disorders have long been considered a health problem exclusive to young White women, yet recent data suggest that women of color and gay men also are vulnerable.
Why are rates of eating disorders higher among women and gay and bisexual men? Sociologists note that social norms stress the importance of physical attractiveness more for women than for men and those desirable body images of men differ from those of women.
Black women are also far less likely than White women to exercise regularly, a pattern that most social scientists attribute to their hectic schedules of juggling work and family and to the high costs of fitness programs and gym memberships.
Black women historically have been less likely than White women to receive mammograms
What is this main point?