By Hannah Z. Morley
Poverty is why Black Americans who live in rural areas are 17% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who live in urban areas, says Texas A&M health and kinesiology professor Idethia S. Harvey. She cited food deserts and substance abuse among the causes.
Texas A&M University health and kinesiology professor Idethia S. Harvey told UCSB’s Center for Black Studies Research last week that Type 2 diabetes can be traced to “stressors” in rural Black communities such as poverty, substance abuse, and food deserts.
“When you think of [African Americans] in the context of rural America we actually live in one of the most inhospitable conditions as it relates to poverty or crime or inadequate housing,” Harvey told a UC Santa Barbara virtual audience. “Living in this condition does have an impact on our health and wellbeing.”
At a lecture hosted by UCSB’s Center for Black Studies Research called “Diabetes is a Struggle,” Harvey said the high rate of rural black Americans with Type 2 diabetes can be traced to unique “stressors” faced this community experiences.
Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Those with Type 1 diabetes are born with it. However, 90% of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. is Type 2, associated with unhealthy eating and little exercise. Type 2 diabetes is prevalent within Black communities.
In fact, Black Americans are three times more likely to have diabetes complications than any other ethnic or racial group in the U.S., Harvey said.
Kinesiologist Idethia S. Harvey presented the history of diabetes before showing research on why Type 2 diabetes is so prevalent in Black rural communities.
For her study, Harvey interviewed rural Black Americans with diabetes that live in various small towns in Texas. Harvey’s goal was to find commonalities among the study’s subjects that could possibly explain why there is such a high rate of diabetes in rural Black communities, compared to other ethnic groups.
Harvey, who specializes in qualitative research, spent over a year becoming a part of different local social services for each community before she even began interviewing her subjects, who at this point recognized and trusted her. Viewing their habits and behaviors, Harvey felt deeply connected to her subjects. She soon realized that what she was discovering reflected the findings of Washington University in Saint Louis researcher James Jackson.
Jackson hypothesized that a low rate for reporting depression in black communities may be the result of African Americans in urban areas developing “unhealthy coping mechanisms” to deal with their anxieties. As Harvey’s research continued, she witnessed how her rural subjects adopted the same behaviors.
With organic grocery stores sometimes more than an hour away, many of Harvey’s interviewees don’t have the time, financial means, or physical ability to seek out healthy options. And many of the rural African Americans Harvey interviewed used binge eating to handle their stress.
Guest speaker Idethia S. Harvey, of Texas A & M University, said the high rate of Type 2 diabetes in rural Black communities may be related to socio-economic conditions, including a lack of grocery stores and a tendency to binge eat as a coping mechanism.
While many tried to refocus their coping behaviors to healthier options, such as exercising, those with smaller social circles and smaller support systems struggled the most.
The former drug and alcohol abusers that Harvey interviewed admitted that they chose “the lesser of two evils” by letting themselves binge eat instead of relapsing, she said.
Harvey shared the journeys of her subjects named Valentina, Tommy, Jackson, and Rosé, to represent millions of people whose socio-economic level and lack of access to local food stores works against them and their health.
Harvey plans to continue her research after the pandemic. Until more resources are available to rural Black Americans, Type 2 diabetes will continue to be a serious issue, she said.
Hannah Z. Morley is a fourth-year UC Santa Barbara student, majoring in Writing & Literature at the College of Creative Studies. She is a web and social media intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.