Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 4, 1994 TAG: 9405050004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BARBARA KARKABI HOUSTON CHRONICLE
DATELINE: HOUSTON LENGTH: Medium
How many, she asks, want to live past the age of 50 or 60? Dixon tells those who raise their hands - generally the majority of people in the room - that if they want to live a longer, healthier life, they should stay and listen. Those who don't are welcome to leave.
Dixon hopes to alarm people into changing their lifestyles.
The statistics she throws at them are shocking:
Blacks can expect to die six years earlier than other Americans, and black males can expect their lives to be 11 years shorter.
Blacks lead the mortality rate from the nation's seven most frequent killers - heart disease, cancer, stroke, liver disease, infant mortality, accidental death and homicide.
While blacks make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 30 percent of the AIDS cases.
Dixon, a registered dietitian and licensed nutritionist based in Baton Rouge, La., is the author of ``Good Health for African Americans'' (Crown, $26). The book offers a nutrition and lifestyle plan called Sankofa, geared specifically for blacks. The name is taken from an African proverb meaning ``learning from the past, building the future.''
Everyone, she says, has his or her own panic button that causes a lifestyle change.
Dixon's wake-up call occurred when her 45-year-old father, a seemingly healthy man, died of a massive heart attack. Her overweight mother suffered a series of strokes and by age 47 was paralyzed on her left side, eventually dying of complications following surgery for colon cancer. Her sister had hypertension and lost her first child during pregnancy. Dixon was 40 pounds overweight the year she finished college.
``My dad was the picture of health; he lifted weights and had begun to make changes in his diet, though he still liked red meat,'' she says. ``We expected my mother would have health problems, because she was overweight and paid no attention to what she ate. I never saw her get checked for high blood pressure or take medication. I never remember either of my parents going to the doctor, and they were well-educated people with good access to health care.''
The deaths in her family, Dixon writes, made her wonder: ``Are we programmed to die young, or do we program ourselves?''
That question, combined with a report released nine years ago by the Department of Health and Human Services that documented a gap in health between white and black Americans, sent her on a search for answers and solutions.
Part of the problem, she says, stems from poor access to health care by a group that is often uninsured. Lifestyle and diet are factors, as is stress resulting from racism and poverty, drug and alcohol use, poor nutrition and lack of consistent exercise.
``Cultural footprints'' is what she calls the combination of genetics, history and environment that has caused blacks to have particular health problems.
``To me the most interesting part of the book was the historical section, because you have to set the stage,'' she says. I point to the book and tell them that our ancestors in Africa ate better than we did.''
According to her research, two meals a day were typical in West Africa - one late in the morning and one late in the evening. The main portion of the diet came from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Then came slavery. To research slaves' diets, Dixon read overseers' journals and found that slaves had few vegetables and a lot of fat. Occasionally they had salted fish, molasses and fried chicken.
But after slavery, diets didn't always improve, leaving blacks with a tendency toward obesity, hypertension and mineral deficiencies, she says.
Dixon describes a typical Sunday meal eaten by many of her clients: chicken smothered in gravy with rice, green peas, carrots or greens boiled with salt pork; corn bread; potato salad with lots of mustard; and baked macaroni. Desserts might include sweet potato pie, bread pudding or fruit cobbler.
Blacks also have some physiological differences from whites that affect their health, she says. For instance, the gene for diabetes may have developed in blacks as a form of protection against shifts in metabolism due to cold temperatures and lack of food. The sickle-cell gene probably arose in Africa, because it helps fight malaria.
Blacks retain salt more than whites do, contributing to a higher rate of hypertension and obesity.
Another problem, she says, is the deep distrust many blacks have for doctors.
Dixon's book includes a chapter on how to find the right doctor. Her program strives to add fruits, vegetables and water to the diet, while eliminating excess fat, salt and sugar. Recipes for healthier soul food also are included.
by CNB