Health promotion measures are a core component of lowering the general cost of healthcare. The health promotion measures emphasize on disease prevention and promote wellness programs such as educating the public on healthy behaviors, community health surveillance, emphasizing on behavioral change, societal change and general awareness on maintaining a healthy lifestyle (CDC, 2019). The minority groups refer to the people who are disadvantaged in the society because of race, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexual orientation. This paper aims at discussing the health promotion measures among the minority native Hawaiian population.
Identification and Description of Selected Minority Group
The selected minority group is the native Hawaiian. It Guam, Samoa or the other groups of the pacific islanders. The 2019 US census data reveals that there are about 1.4 million native Hawaiian which makes up to 04 percent of the total US population (“Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander – The Office of Minority Health”, 2019). Majority of this population reside in Hawaii; however, with minority population distributed in other states It is also known to have a higher percentage of youth population compared to the native white Americans with 29.9 percent of this group being below the age of 18 years compared to the 18.8 percent of the non-Hispanic whites (“Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander – The Office of Minority Health”, 2019).
According to the 2019 census report, 88. 7 percent of the native Hawaiians had a high school diploma or higher qualification compared to 93.3 percent of the non-Hispanic whites. Of this population only 23. 8 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher as compared to the 36.9 percent of the non-Hispanic whites. Moreover, in terms of attainment of professional degrees, only 7.4 percent of the native Hawaiian had this attainment compared to the 14,3 percent of the whites. Economically, the median household income for native Hawaiian was $66,695 compared to $ 71,664 for the non-Hispanic whites. Additionally, in terms of poverty level, 14 percent of the native Hawaiian live-in poverty compared to the 9.0 percent of the whites.
Health Disparities and Nutritional Challenges for Native Hawaiians
Majority members of this group depend on the state and federal aid to access healthcare services as only 65.8 percent of the group used private insurance cover as of 2019 compared to the 74 percent for the whites. The life expectancy for this group is lower compared to the national average. The native Hawaiian life expectancy for women is at 83.2 years while for men is at 78.5 years which gives an average of 80.8 years. The population also records a higher percentage of cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity. The population has also recorded higher cases of heart diseases, injuries resulting from accidents, diabetes and stroke. In addition to these health risks, the population records higher prevalence to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and hepatitis B.
The nutritional pattern of this population is majorly carbohydrates with vegetables and a small percentage of lean meat. This poses a greater nutritional challenge to the people. Most of the families are not able to achieve a balanced diet. This has had greater impact to the health status of the population hence recording higher incidences of obesity and other related conditions such as heart diseases and stroke. With the adoption of the western lifestyle and higher calorie intake coupled with less physical activity, the native Hawaiian population stands at a greater risk of overweight and obesity.
Barriers to Health for Native Hawaiians
For native Hawaiian population the socioeconomic barriers rank among the top. The population has is of lower economic status making it difficult to access quality healthcare services (Park et al., 2018). Most of the families do not have medical insurance covers. Lower level of education also makes it difficult to raise awareness on the health promotion measures as most of the families are not well-informed better lifestyle choices. Due to lower income, the housing, nutrition and hygiene standards are low. Families that cannot afford a balanced diet exposes the children to malnutritional disorders. It is imperative to note that as a result of low living standards, the youth are likely to resort to careless lifestyles of violence, drug and substance use th
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