Survey says?
Like any good political scientist, I prefer to rely upon anecdotal evidence rather than scientific data when passing judgment upon others. Fortunately, both methodologies jibe with each other somewhat when talking about the census numbers released this week.
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First, the good news: Missouri’s SAT scores continue to be higher than the national average. This is misleading, though, as the only students taking the SAT in Missouri are the ones expecting to get into top-tier schools (most college-bound students in this state take the ACT instead). But then again, why should anyone put any weight on the value of a standardized test? The SAT is obviously biased against minorities (1), which is why the nation’s top universities don’t use it as a primary criterium for admitting students. (2)
The fact that Missouri ranks near the middle of the “poor” rankings is somewhat disappointing. I really thought we had done enough to rank higher. Oh, well … there’s always next session’s Medicaid cuts.
The worst news is that Missourians have gotten significantly fatter in the last year. This makes sense to me, considering that just about every twenty-something woman I know got married last year, and you know what that means. Also, as your local television station has reminded you ad nauseum for the past week, there are still a number of Katrina refugees living in Missouri. Their presence undoubtedly inched our obesity numbers upward, seeing that they don’t seem to miss many meals.
Not to get all preachy on you, especially before a big feeding weekend like Labor Day, but the obesity numbers represent a serious problem for all of us, and especially for the black community.
Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control show that 77.5 percent of black women are overweight (compared to 57.0 percent of white women). The same study reports that 49.6 percent of black women are obese (compared to 31.3 percent of white women). In popular terminology, overweight = “healthy”, “big-boned”, or “thick”. Obese = “fat”. (3)
As a white male, I realize that my people are responsible for most of the evils facing the black community — black-on-black violence, unemployment, drug abuse, absentee fatherhood, Kevin Federline — but I can’t accept the credit for obesity.
I don’t see Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton spending much time talking about the black obesity epidemic, so there’s certainly a niche to be created by some ambitious black leader who’s willing to do something more than just complain.
Some of us are born “slower” than others, and might never get a perfect SAT score. And there are undoubtedly some poor people who actually want to work, but have physical or mental limitations that keep them from doing so. But there are very few people who could not, if they really wanted to, find the resolve to take the stairs or eat one less box of donuts every morning.
I hope our obesity numbers improve in the next year. Let’s eat less. Let’s exercise more. And if that doesn’t work, let’s at least keep those Ernesto refugees out of our state this year.
(1) Except for Asians and Indians, who it’s obviously biased in favor of.
(2) Oh wait, they do? I wonder why.
(3) “Big-boned” people: do not e-mail me to argue about BMI vs. body fat, because I know more about it than you do. Seriously.
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