The Disadvantage of Minorities and Exercise

A required article that I read in class for "Women in Sport" really caught my attention. The article related to the aspects of African American women and walking interventions. I never anticipated that culture and race puts such restrictions on exercise and health until I read this article. I am hispanic and I have always had access to sports and recreational activites since I can remember. Because of that I never considered that other minorities could encounter disadvantages and have limited access to exercise and health. Taking this course has made me aware that black and hispanic women do not have the same support from family members when it comes to their health. They are still expected to carry the load of the family and put everyone else as a priority before themselves. Minority women and their familites, I feel, lack the education and knowledge of what benefits occur as a resultof exercise. Therefore, health and exercise are not a priority. Because appearance and beauty are not as highly emphasized in these communities there is also no reason to exercise to be thin. Another point that came up during the topic of minorities and exercise is that lower income neighborhoods do not have the same access to healthy choices in supermarkets and in grocery stores. It opened my eyes and made me realize that it was true. While growing up we sometimes did our grocery shopping in a city neighboring ours that was not as nice and recall that a lot of their produce was not fresh. It was old and fruits were bruised which made you not want to buy fruit. How sad is that? Something that is supposed to be healthy and part of a balanced diet looked absolutely disgusting. My new aspect after this course is to educate all the women in my family about how good exercise is for the body and mind and the importance of making better food choices.