Health Promotion in American Indian

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AMERICAN INDIAN
American Indian refers to the aboriginal people living within the Western Hemisphere. These minority group's ancestors were part of those people whose culture involves nomadic hunting and gathering. About 30,000 – 12,000 years ago, these people traveled in small families from Asia towards North America. During the last Ice Age, a land bridge was known to connect the gap between two continents due to the low sea level. Before any European contact, their ancestors had been living for thousands of years in North America. When talking about indigenous cultures, they are often organized geographically. The Western Hemisphere involves the Northern America region, comprising the United States of America and Canada, the Middle America region comprising Mexico and Central America, and the South America region. They comprised 1.7 percent of the whole population in the U.S. Other names used for this minority group include Native Americans, aboriginal Americans, indigenous Americans, and Amerind.
CURRENT HEALTH STATUS, HEALTH DISPARITIES, AND NUTRITIONAL CHALLENGES
Specific health concerns are arising from each ethnic or racial group. Various factors contribute to these health differences, including genetics, culture, environmental factors, and access to care. As reported from the Census Bureau projections, 77.5 years is the life expectancies at birth in 2015 for American Indians, and wherein there are 74.7 years for men and 80.3 years for women. The life expectancies are projected to fall to 79.8 years for any Non-Hispanic whites, with 77.5 years for men while 82 years for women (, 2020). As reported by the Department of Health of North Dakota, the average age for American Indians at death recorded in 2010-2014 was 56.8 years compared to the white population's age at death of 76.6 years (Plain, 2018).
Among American Indians, the leading causes of death and diseases include stroke, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and accidents. Several conditions are also considered highly prevalent and risk factors to this group, including obesity, diabetes, substance use, mental health, teenage pregnancy, and liver diseases such as hepatitis. In addition to this, this group's tuberculosis rate in 2017 compared to the white population was approximately four times higher, with a 3.9 incidence rate (, 2020).
Additionally, American Indians suffer significant nutritional challenges in the United States. Approximately 67% of this minority group falls within the category of either overweight or obese. In their culture, food is considered to be a way of life that goes beyond just sustenance. Due to lack of resources, isolated location geographically, and poor aid system from the government, food insecurity and malnutrition are experienced more by this group. Poor diet results from limited resources in which children are rewarded with sweet foods such as ice cream, sweets from bakery, and candies (Kaiser, 2019).
Several factors prevent this particular group from accessing quality medical care. Such concerns include inadequate sewage disposal, an isolated group in a geographical manner, cultural barriers, and low income. Their race and ethnicity have signi...