She notes that the prevalence of obesity has increased among men between 1999-2002 and 2007-2010 (CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report (2013)). She cites statistics illustrating the disparity in healthy weights among different racial groups "for obesity grade 3, 12.1% of non-Hispanic blacks aged 20 years and older were in this category compared to 5.6% of non-Hispanic whites, 0.9% of non-Hispanic Asians, and 5.8% of Hispanic persons in this age range." In concluding her post, she raises several questions concerning healthy weights for male individuals:
- How much do we understand about the experience of being morbidly obese among men of color?
- As a society, are we more accepting of obese men?
- How can we support men in pursuing healthy weights?
These comments serve to highlight the need for considering population diversity (culture, race and ethnicity, social class, etc.) in developing programs to address obesity.