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Supporting Youth
Reduce risk factors and support healthy behaviors among children and youth of color.
This focus area is crucial since behavioral choices affect as many as 40 percent of premature deaths in our nation. The rates of obesity, already high for blacks and Hispanics, are increasing more rapidly for those minority groups. Physical activity, which is correlated with obesity, is pursued at a higher rate by white, followed by Hispanics, and then blacks.
Tobacco initiation and use among youth is still high and so is substance abuse, especially among some communities of color. And, violence in some communities of color, especially in poverty neighborhoods in inner cities, is unacceptably high.
This focus area is crucial since behavioral choices affect as many as 40 percent of premature deaths in our nation. The rates of obesity, already high for blacks and Hispanics, are increasing more rapidly for those minority groups. Physical activity, which is correlated with obesity, is pursued at a higher rate by white, followed by Hispanics, and then blacks.
Tobacco initiation and use among youth is still high and so is substance abuse, especially among some communities of color. And, violence in some communities of color, especially in poverty neighborhoods in inner cities, is unacceptably high.