非裔拉丁裔社区中种族、族裔和健康的交集

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Maria Solis Belizaire knows heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions run in her family. 在她十几岁的时候，她的父亲在快40岁时心脏病发作, 她的祖母都做过多次心脏手术.

索利斯的家族病史是她开始跑步的原因之一. In 2016, she started a community of Latino runners in New York that was inclusive of her Afro Latino roots. That community has grown to thousands of members who run together to improve their physical and mental health.

“对很多人来说, running is a way of dealing with depression or other health issues that forced them to do something,索利斯说, 母亲是波多黎各人，父亲是伯利兹人和墨西哥人的后裔. “对我来说，这是努力拥有健康心脏的一部分."

西班牙裔人口占美国人口的近20%.S. 人口，都有很好的记录. They have disproportionately higher death rates from diabetes and a higher prevalence of obesity and uncontrolled high blood pressure – all of which can contribute to heart disease, 根据 疾病控制和预防中心.

But limited research also has found disparities for a growing part of the population that identifies as Afro Latino, 有拉丁美洲和加勒比文化根源的黑人. A study published in the 移民和少数民族健康杂志 in 2007 found Afro Latino people are more likely than white Hispanic people to report 健康状况好或不好. 其他研究表明，他们可能有 略高的利率 患高血压和糖尿病的几率高于西班牙裔白人.

Extensive research still is needed to understand the health of Afro Latino people as a unique population, 博士说. Katia Bravo-Jaimes, an adult congenital cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. 研究通常集中在西班牙裔人口作为一个同质群体, 哪些可以掩盖亚群体内部的健康差异.

"The main problem that we have when we are encountering cardiovascular disease risk studies in different populations is that they lump everybody together" within the overall Hispanic population, 她说. ”和“西班牙裔,在现实中, 这么广泛的分类是因为种族是基于文化的吗, 这些人共有的价值观和语言, whereas race is much more based on physical characteristics that are related to ancestry."

近1.在美国有200万人.S. identified as Black Hispanic in the 2020 Census, which was the first time "Afro Latino" was counted. 但是一个 皮尤研究中心调查 found there may actually be an estimated 6 million adults who identified as Afro Latino in 2020.

Although research has found higher mortality among Afro Latino people than white Hispanic people, 卫生不平等的驱动因素仍未得到充分研究, 博士说. 阿道夫•奎瓦斯, an assistant professor in the School of Global Public Health at New York University in New York City. 他是一篇论文的主要作者 2016年评审 of research in the American Journal of Public Health on the intersection of health and race within the Latino population.

"We went as far as these scientific search engines allowed us to go to identify scientific papers that examined race or skin tone within the Latino population in relation to health,奎瓦斯说, 谁是来自多米尼加共和国的非裔拉丁裔. "And we were surprised that there were so few scientific articles that have focused on skin tone and race within the Latino population, even though these are one of the more important aspects of the Latino-lived experiences."

在一个 2019年皮尤调查 西班牙裔成年人, 大约64%的深色皮肤受访者表示，他们遭受过歧视, 或者受到了不公平的对待, 相比之下，肤色较浅的受访者中约有一半是这样. 这种形式的歧视被称为肤色歧视.

The stress associated with being treated differently because of race and ethnicity can negatively affect health, Cuevas称. 遭受歧视可能会增加死亡的几率, 尤其是心血管相关的疾病, 根据… 2023年的研究 in the 美国心脏协会 journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

"Racism and colorism affect life chances for Afro Latinos and ultimately their health," Cuevas称. “例如, 尽管与拉丁裔白人相比，他们的教育水平更高, 他们的失业率更高，收入更低."

Cuevas称 health disparities may be more prevalent among Afro Latinos because they experience the inequities associated with both their race and their ethnicity.

在分析中, Cuevas and his colleagues found that health disparities among Afro Latino people in comparison with white Hispanic people "looked almost exactly like" the disparities seen among non-Hispanic Black people compared to white people. “非裔拉丁美洲人的孕产妇健康状况不佳, 婴儿健康状况不佳——甚至涉及到儿童和成人的健康, 贫穷得多,他说.

2020年的一项研究 移民和少数民族健康杂志 与非西班牙裔白人相比, Black Hispanic people had a higher risk of hospitalization and death than white Hispanic people.

Cuevas称 his current research emphasizes the need for improved studies that examine racial inequities across various aspects of health.

“我们必须收集更好的数据, 特别是如果我们关注拉丁裔的健康, 捕捉种族的多维度,他说. “这将使我们更好地了解拉丁裔的健康状况."

对于像她这样的非裔拉丁美洲人, Solis said it's important to consider "the unique blend of genetic and cultural elements" that play a role in vulnerability to heart disease.

"Understanding these factors and promoting awareness within our community is essential for prevention and care,她说.