Did
You Know?
*One out of two
African American women between the ages of 20 and 44
is overweight, versus about one out of four white
women.
* One in two black women age 40 and over is obese.
Nearly one-third of all black women suffer from high
blood pressure with one in five deaths due to
hypertension.
* One in four black women age 55 and older has
diabetes, and black women are more likely than their
white counterparts to develop complications from
diabetes, including kidney failure, blindness, and
heart disease.
* Black women are nearly three times as likely as
white women to die from stroke and twice as likely
to die from breast or cervical cancer. *Although
the above statistics are alarming, the good news,
according to Rovenia Brock, Ph.D., "Dr. Ro,"
America's most renowned African American
nutritionist, is that simple lifestyle changes can
drastically improve them. In her book Dr. Ro's Ten Secrets to Livin'
Healthy, published by Bantam Books, Dr. Ro
addresses the health crisis in her community by
drawing on her twenty years of experience as a
nutritionist -- on and off the airwaves - to tackle
the issues that most affect African American women
today.
Her solutions begin with identifying
the cultural differences that often prove to be the
biggest obstacles black women face in keeping their
weight under control and forming healthy living
habits. In the book, Dr. Ro outlines:
* The differences
between black and white women's bodies and how
understanding these distinctions can mean the
difference between living a long, productive,
healthy life and dying early.
* Suggestions on how to solve specific
challenges African Americans face with the
current Food Guide Pyramid. For example, 1 in 3
African Americans is lactose intolerant, but the
Pyramid suggests 3 servings of dairy a day. Dr.
Ro offers practical solutions to this and other
problems.
* The origins of "soul food" and how it can be
good for you--with a few slight modifications.
* Tips on eating out - and eating at home using
Dr. Ro's healthy and delicious recipes.
* A life plan that will help break the
multi-generation cycle of bad health by telling
black women how to eat and exercise for maximum
well-being and fitness.
Dr.
Ro's Ten Secrets to Livin' Healthy focuses not only on obesity
but also on all the main health challenges facing
the African American community - including diabetes,
hypertension, and heart disease. Rather than the
outdated Food Guide Pyramid or the calorie-counting
approach used by the vast majority of nutritionists,
Dr. Ro has developed the Color Plate System.
According to Dr. Ro, this simple menu planning
system "is a very
basic, no-nonsense system of eating that requires no
calculation and no counting of calories or fat
grams, and removes the guesswork from your meal
plan. It focuses on the consumption of ample
quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables, soy, and
whole grains-many of which are traditional staples
with origins in our African homeland."
Dr. Ro has been featured in the following
publications: (click the name of each publication to
see)
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