Ethnic and racial differences play a crucial role in determining the health of individuals and have an unprecedented impact on the global economy. These differences may be closely associated with inequities in life opportunities and histories, exposure to unhealthy environments, and adequacy or access to medical care. i Despite this, not all health differences are owed to inequity. In some cases, inappropriate lifestyle choices or personal attitude towards treatment may fuel these differences. ii This necessitates the need to understand the mechanisms and roots of health differences. Also, it is only by doing so that one can devise ways of resolving them, or reducing the damage caused. Ultimately, this gives targeted individuals the ability to take full advantage of the capacity and potential in life. Poor health is bound to affect most people later in their lives. However, in some ethnic and racial groups, the phenomenon may start early, exist for extended periods, or may be more common. iii This paper seeks to explore variations in the health of individuals from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.
Race versus Ethnicity
Race is undoubtedly a potent social reality whose importance in defining an individual's identity cannot be overstated. Self-identification does not imply that race does not feature an objective basis just because it is often consistent with an individual's ancestral origins. Owing to the complications associated with intermarriage and migration histories, coupled with the peculiarity of social categorization and self-identification, racial classifications often diverge from the strict descent-based classification. A thin line exists between race and ethnicity. iv However, while races are often distinguished based on such physical attributes as the color of skin, ethnic distinctions are focused generally on the individuals’ cultural characteristics. Notable among these characteristics include religion, language, customs, and history. Nevertheless, cultural and physical characteristics are combined when identifying ethnic and racial groups. What starts as a cultural and ethnic distinction slowly becomes racialized with racial groups being identified by the public with reference to behavior and customs.
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Officially, the U.S currently boasts five core races. These include African American or black, white, Asian, Alaska Native or American Indian, and Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian. A distinction, however, has to be made between Latinos or Hispanics and all the other groups. This ethnic-based distinction crosscuts the existing racial classification. Depending on the context, self-identification often gives options to individuals. In this regard, ethnic and racial identities boast variations based on different psychological and social factors. v These factors are responsible for altering the salience of different identities. For example, there has been a decline in stigma, coupled with increased emphasis on indigenous peoples’ right. Due to this change, the number of individuals who openly confess to being Alaska Natives or American Indians has grown far faster than would have been possible in the past.
The increased popularity of self-identification has mounted more pressure on the society leading to acceptance of interracial and multiple identifications. For instance, when individuals are only allowed to choose a single race, the majority would only choose one race. However, when given a chance to select multiple identities, a significant number of the same individuals are likely to select multiple races. This is likely to be exhibited by the more educated individuals compared to their less educated counterparts. A wide array of cultural and physical attributes are used in defining the ethnic and racial groups. vi A small subset of these characteristics is used as reference points in the definition of major groups. Based on this, some major ethnic and racial groups include whites, Asians, Hispanics, blacks, Alaska Natives, and American Indians. While some of these groups have been in existence for centuries, whether or not they remain relevant socially in the future is hard to predict. Further, any possible differences in the health of group members are increasingly consequential.
Group Membership and the Resultant Disparate Treatment
For a long time, the recognition of new ethnic and racial groups the U.S and other nations have often been met with disparate treatment, conflict, and prejudice. This phenomenon is the genesis of the growing concern about the health status of ethnic and racial minorities. vii For instance, the earliest and most enduring ethnic and racial distinction developed between European colonists and the Native American Indians. While the natives divided themselves into various tribal and ethnic groups, the colonists and their governments made use of a dichotomous distinction between the native and themselves. They achieved this by lumping together the Alaska Native and American Indian populations. The third ethnic and racial group came about owing to the forced migration of Africans into the American colonies through the slave trade. Defining this category has varied over the years. For centuries, the U.S embraced the hypodescent rule. In this form of rule, if a person had any African American or African ancestry, he or she was defined as a black person. Apart from limiting their rights in practice and under law, this form of rule branded all blacks as belonging to a subordinate group.
Over time, there have been other waves of immigration which have continuously created other ethnic and racial groups that are also separately identified. viii For example, the immigration of large numbers of Europeans in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century led to the creation of various major groups. These migrations started from Northern, followed by Southern, and lastly Eastern Europe. During the immigration periods, the ethnic groups of European origin were treated distinctively discriminated against heavily. The British first racialized the Irish. The group also faced the same in America. Ethnic and racial distinctions among the Americans of European descent are currently muted. Consequently, people show significant differences in how they identify with their European backgrounds. This phenomenon is also observable in other ethnic and racial groups although compared to other groups, blacks have enjoyed less attitude.
The immigration of Asians and Hispanics took place a long time ago. In some cases, the settlement of Hispanics predated the accession of some territories to the U.S. In recent years, the rate of immigration has grown significantly, often surpassing that of the massive immigration of Europeans in the early times. One of the most distinguishing factors of the recent and past immigrations is that as opposed to the past, little distinction is made between the different national origins of the migrating Asian and Hispanic populations. Similar to other immigration waves, early Asian immigrants and many Hispanics have suffered from social inferiority and low-wage work. Nevertheless, all immigrant groups immediately become part of the U.S society’s social stratification but often start at the bottom of this stratification. It is this ethnic stratification that gives rise to various racist ideologies in which case particular groups are deemed inferior. For these groups, access to such valued resources as power, jobs, wealth, income, prestige, and education becomes possible over generations or decades. Lack of or delayed access to these resources has far-reaching implications on the health of these groups.
The Health Impacts of Belonging to Different Ethnic Groups
Membership in a particular ethnic group is likely to be associated with health in numerous ways. For instance, variations in genetic attributes are likely to result in disparate susceptibility to disease. Since ethnicity and race are essential aspects of personal identity, they significantly determine behaviors and reactions to the social environment. These aspects have unprecedented implications on the health of individuals. On the other hand, the social standing of ethnic groups differs significantly. This social standing tends to evolve with time. Due to these dynamics, access to health resources tends to vary from one ethnic group to another. Also, since the treatment of ethnic groups tends to vary, some enjoy more favorable health environments compared to others. These effects are likely to be more notable among older people since their ethnic and racial identification is more deeply rooted. Likewise, their ethnic and racial identification is rooted more deeply while their life experiences may be characterized by the early and turbulent history of ethnic and racial relations.
Individuals tend to develop their understanding of illness and health based on cultural-based experiences. ix Thus, the conceptualization of illness and health is dynamic and takes a top-down route. This implies that new experiences and knowledge are continuously assimilated to fit into the already present cognitive structures. A person's cultural belief system offers a lens via which he or she can interpret, label, interpret, or make sense of his or her experiences. Subsequently, culturally-based health beliefs and conceptions are organized into explanatory models of illness and health. These models include beliefs about onset as well as the evolution of symptoms; causes, severity, and pathophysiology of illnesses; and the possible treatments. Cultural variations in disease and health beliefs often exist with respect to the etiological factors that drive illnesses. There are four distinct categories of beliefs that are related to the likely causes of diseases. These include the social, individual, supernatural, and natural worlds.
The Indians, in contrast to Caucasians, believe that supernatural factors have a significant influence on illnesses. Also, the belief that supernatural powers play a role in the health of individuals is common among such Asian cultural groups as the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Filipinos. The same is true for a considerable number of Africans. Etiological beliefs of illness were common among America cultural groups and enjoyed increased adherence to various supernatural factors among Americans of different ancestry, including Mexican, Chinese, African, Puerto Rican, Haitian and Native ancestry. This is as compared to the White Americans. Differences also exist with regard to the practices various groups utilize in promoting health. For instance, compared to their African American counterparts, Caucasian women are more likely to engage in healthy nutritional practices. Also, this group is more likely to embrace interpersonal support to a larger extent.
Another important aspect of health that varies with ethnic grouping is exercise. In this regard, non-Hispanic White people are more likely to exhibit higher levels of leisure-based physical activity compared to Hispanics and Asian-Americans. x The lowest level of exercise is associated with African Americans, with body mass index being inversely proportional to exercise in this group. Exemplifying the importance of exercise, symptoms of menopause have been cited to be positively related to exercise in African American and non-Hispanic white women. Compared to other ethnic groups, work-related physical activity is lower among the Asians. On the other hand, non-work physical activity is lower in Blacks followed by Hispanics, followed by the other racial groups. This is when compared to the non-Hispanic Whites. Overall, there are significant differences in non-work physical activity across different ethnic and racial groups. xi These differences are associated with variations in social-economic status, education, location, and various time constraints. Therefore, these factors play a crucial role in determining the health of individuals across different ethnic groups.
References
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ix Gavin, J. R., Fox, K. M., & Grandy, S. (2011). Race/Ethnicity and gender differences in health intentions and behaviors regarding exercise and diet for adults with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis. BMC public health , 11 (1), 533.
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