Most Americans recognize the role good health plays in their quality of life, but many fail to see quality of life as a precursor to good health. Poverty, the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, education, and racism are just some of the social determinants that affect our health. It amazes me that knowing someone’s zip code could be a better predictor of future health than knowing their genetic code. Whether a person will have good health is, in many cases, dependent upon things outside of direct medical care. Factors that determine well being are often community factors. Social determinants of health are the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power, and resources at the global, national, and local levels.
Music industry veteran, author, philanthropist, and now ambassador for the American Heart Association, Shanti Das loved Peyton Forrest, Atlanta and her upbringing on Cativo Drive. What she may not have known as a little girl was that she was living in a neighborhood that was considered a food desert. Food deserts are defined as communities that do not have sufficient access to fresh, healthy and affordable food provided by a supermarket or grocery store. Additionally, many areas are food insecure where there is limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods. Shanti remembers when she grew up in the South West Atlanta neighborhood having to drive five to ten miles just to find a grocery story with healthier options. Today about 23.5 million people live in food deserts. Low-income zip codes have thirty percent more convenience stores, which tend to be deficient in healthy food options, than middle-income zip codes. Das moved back to Atlanta after living in New York for over nine years not to take a break but to make a difference in the community where she grew up.
“One of the goals for me being the national ambassador is to really help bring about as much awareness as I can particularly for the American Heart Association with this being a multicultural initiative,” said Das, who has worked with artists such as Usher, Outkast, Toni Braxton and TLC. “I want to use my influence in the entertainment industry to spread the message and to help create healthier lifestyles and open up opportunities and access in our urban communities.” Her message is definitely needed and her motivation is not just her neighborhood but her family where high blood pressure runs rampant and her brother who suffers from heart disease.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of all Americans, and stroke, another form of heart disease, is the No. 5 cause of death. African-Americans are two to three times more likely to die from heart disease than white people, according to the American Heart Association. African-Americans, Hispanics, Latinos and other ethnic minorities have higher rates of premature death from cardiovascular diseases. They also are at higher risk for high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Developing these diseases is preventable in many cases by adopting healthier habits, Das said, and that’s the message she wants to help spread in her new role with the EmPOWERED To Serve campaign.
One of Shanti’s top priorities is to recruit others to the EmPOWERED To Serve movement and to speak out about the benefits of healthy eating and exercise to help people extend their lives. “This is such an amazing campaign,” said Das, who is hoping to “get our friends and family members on board so that we can cut down the number of cases of high blood pressure and stroke and heart disease in the urban community.”
April is National Minority Health month and Shanti and I along with the EmPOWERED To Serve™ (ETS) campaign are asking YOU to “Take Me Home.” Take Me Home is a Social Determinant’s of Health campaign that will follow a mixture of local and celebrity ETS Ambassadors and encourage everyday ambassadors like yourself, to take us on a journey into your community by showing the conditions in which you survive and thrive. Shanti Das has committed to make a difference in the city of Atlanta and I’m stepping my game up in Baton Rouge. Please join us and make a difference in the community where you eat, live, play, and worship.