Report finds health disparities among races in Twin Cities

A recent report found significant health disparities between races in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Mortality rates are 3.5 times higher for American Indians and 3 times higher for African-Americans than for Caucasians, according to the report by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota. The report links the environments of communities to the health of the people living in them. 

David Wallinga, director of the Food and Health Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said that pollution and access to healthy food would put more people at risk for illnesses and thus increases mortality rates.

“These neighborhoods generally are lower income and more populated by people of color,” said Wallinga. The average life expectancy in the Twin Cities is 81 years for Caucasians, 83 years for Asians, 74 years for African Americans and only 61 years for American Indians. That’s a 20–year gap between the highest and lowest life expectancies.

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