On Blacks and Fat: Darryl Roberts
Obesity is more common in African Americans than in other ethnic groups. But when it comes to black people and weight, that’s where the consensus seems to end. Is food the culprit? Is exercise the solution? Is there even a real problem to begin with, or should we be focusing on health — or even self-acceptance — rather than the number on the scale?
Against the backdrop of the first lady’s mission to slim down the nation’s kids, black celebs getting endorsements after shedding inches and a booming weight-loss industry, The Root will publish a series of interviews with medical professionals, activists and fitness enthusiasts that reveal the complexity of this issue and the range of approaches to it.
For the first in the series, The Root talked to filmmaker Darryl Roberts, whose documentaries America the Beautiful and America the Beautiful II: The Thin Commandments set out to challenge mainstream notions about weight, beauty and health.
The Root: According to the latest statistics, African Americans are 1.5 times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be obese. What’s going on, from your perspective, with black people, obesity and overall health?
Darryl Roberts: What I’ve found is that one of the things going on with African Americans and obesity is that we are living with a lot of stress in inner cities, and that stress is causing us to invite disease in our bodies and causing us to do emotional eating. In addition, there are food deserts [in black communities] where people simply can’t access the type of food they need to be healthy.
TR: When it comes to African Americans and obesity, what is the biggest myth or misunderstanding?
DR: The biggest myth would be that African Americans have these horrid eating habits, they live off McDonald’s and KFC and Popeyes, that they don’t exercise … People say this kind of thing in a way that’s totally devoid of the concept of the stress going on in black people’s lives. The other thing that’s hurting us in the black community is we’re not given the proper knowledge — we’re beat down with the message that you can’t be overweight and healthy — when in actuality, studies show that you can.
Article source: http://www.theroot.com/views/blacks-and-fat-darryl-roberts
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Categories: Fat Loss Diary Tags: African Americans, Darryl Roberts, DR, TR