Two-thirds of all deaths in the United States can be attributed to these four serious diseases: cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and African-American women are at particularly high risk. That’s why the Advertising Council, along with the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association, has developed the second phase of a three-year public health campaign to increase awareness of the impact that lifestyle choices have on these four diseases.
Focus group research conducted by the three organizations in conjunction with the Advertising Council reveal that African-American women are aware of the importance of eating healthfully and staying active, yet many lack the continued motivation to maintain healthy lifestyle habits.
The campaign is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the nation’s leading not-for-profit health agencies to develop a joint prevention initiative, “Everyday Choices For A Healthier Life™.” The initiative is designed to encourage Americans to lower their risk of chronic diseases by following a unified set of recommendations:
- Eat a healthy diet as a key component to achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight
- Be physically active
- Don’t smoke, and avoid second-hand smoke
- See a physician to assess your personal health risks
| >> American Cancer Society |
“Our goal is to empower African American women, particularly those ages 35-50, to make healthy everyday choices to help reduce their risk of developing these diseases, and to encourage them to help their family and friends make these changes, as well.”..says Gena R. Carter, MD, a director on the American Cancer Society’s national board of directors and a staff radiologist at South Shore Breast Evaluation Center, Scituate, Mass. “For many people, that support from others can provide that extra motivation needed to keep living a healthier life.”. The PSA tagline, “Sisterhood is Healthy,” urges women to encourage and support their friends to eat healthfully and get active.
| >> American Diabetes Association |
"Establishing healthy lifestyle habits is especially important for African American women, who are two to four times more likely than Caucasian women to develop type 2 diabetes," said Andrea Williams, RD, LD, CDE, Chair of the American Diabetes Association African American Project Team. "It is crucial that these women — who are often gatekeepers for their families' health as well as their own — empower one another to maintain habits that are known to prevent or delay the onset of this devastating disease."
| >> American Heart Association |
“It is doubly important for African-American women to pay attention to heart disease and stroke risk factors because the prevalence of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases is 44.7 percent for African-American women compared to 32.4 percent in white women,” said Anjanette Ferris, MD, American Heart Association spokesperson and clinical fellow in cardiovascular disease at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. “We want women to know their risk factors and support each other in making the right choices everyday to reduce their risks.”
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