allergens, contaminated food and water, and racism!

Hey folks, welcome to Dnews.

Laci Green here.

My favorite commercials are those ones that are like, "Did you know that stress is terrible

for your health?"

Yea!

Stress can lead to high blood pressure, and supressed immune system, and diabetes.

And then you're like, "Oh great!

Now I get to be stressed out about being stressed out."

Man!

Stress is like a bad cycle.

And it's a cycle that affects some folks more than others.

A new study published in the Journal of Sociological Inquiry found that after analyzing data from

30,000 people, racial minorites had significatly higher rates of stress.

And it's symbolic of a great divide between the health of the dominant race versus the

minority race in countries around the world.

It's well documented that minority groups in the U.S. have way more stress, poor mental

health and poor physical health than white Americans.

Racial minorities get sick more, their illness gets more severe, it happens at younger ages,

and they die sooner than white people do.

In the U.S., New Zealand, and Canada, the average lifespan of male minorities is seven

years shorter than the white male average in the country.

In Australia, it's twenty one years shorter.

So the big question here is, "Why?"

It's a tricky puzzle, peeps, with lotsa pieces, more than a short YouTube video could ever

hope to place.

But there are a few key factors here: racial discrimination, class, and education level.

A study at the University of Western Australia found that aboriginal participants were five

times as likely to report negative treatment based on their race and twice as likely to

have health problems.

The American Journal of Public Health found that even anticipating racism, which minorities

commonly experience with racial profiling policies like "Stop and Frisk," is enough

to trigger a harmful stress response.

The British Medical Journal published a study finding that those who initially screened

a negative for all mental illnesses, were twice as likely to have detereorating mental

health when they experience racial discrimination.

So these are some of the reasons why scientists are calling for racial prejudices, from interpersonal

type, like being suspicious of someone because they're black, to systemic types, like providing

a little funding for schools in the "ghetto," can be addressed not only as a social justice

issue, but a public health issue.

At a conference in Switzerland last week focused on addressing racial health disparities, researchers

laid out what they think can be done about this.

The first, is to recognize that there's something that's not quite right here.

Second is to say, "Nu uh!

Inequality is not cool!"

And lastly, to make real changes that will better the health of minority groups.

So, next stop, end global poverty!

Thanks for joining me friends.

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