Urban health program reaches midpoint
Jason Hawk | The Chronicle-Telegram
OBERLIN — Roy Fields is 10 pounds slimmer and his blood sugar level has sunk from above 150 to about 100.
“If I can do this, I can keep up. I have more energy,” he said Saturday afternoon, pedaling on a stationary bicycle at SplashZone in Oberlin. “I’m trying to keep me alive for my family.”
Fields, 59, of Lorain, is the oldest of 42 local black men who have vowed to exercise and eat right as part of the Save Our Sons African American Health Project.
The study is a pilot run by the National Urban League to find what types of activities and education will convince black men to become healthier. The average lifespan in the United States is 77.8 years, but for black men, it’s just 69.6 years.
For six weeks, black men ages 18 and older volunteer to exercise, eat right and learn about diabetes. The program also tracks their body fat, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.
At the half-way point, Fields, who has diabetes and heart problems, said he feels great. He’s been cycling, walking, swimming, drinking more water and cutting back on calories.
He’s not alone.
“These guys are doing everything. At first, they gravitated toward the basketball court, because that’s where a lot of them grew up,” said Mike Ferrer, who’s in charge of the study for the Lorain County Urban League.
“Now they’re experimenting with tennis, weights, swimming — everything. What matters is that they are doing this together, pairing up to work out and keeping each other going.”
At the start of the study, 45 percent of the men said they did not exercise at all. Ferrer said now 60 percent of them have memberships at the Gathering Hope House fitness center.
Larry Windham, 52, of Lorain, has started working out three times a week. He said he’s doing it for his 26 grandchildren.
“I want to be around for them,” he said after pumping 150 pounds on SplashZone’s fly machine. “I’ve got my heart rate up, I’m keeping busy and my cholesterol is good.”
But exercising alone isn’t enough for Windham. He’s recruited nine of his nephews and friends — including Fields — to exercise along with him and to attend weekend Save Our Sons seminars.
“If you care about yourself, you can do this,” he said he told them. “This is called ‘Save Our Sons.’ I’m trying to save mine, and myself, too, you know what I mean?”
It’s that kind of attitude that is making the project succeed, Ferrer said. Others like Windham are talking with loved ones about diabetes, and they’re making a difference, he said.
“These guys have been given a diabetes manual in our seminars, and they’ve learned all about it,” he said. “To their families, they’re the experts now. Their families are listening to them because they trust them.”
When the study ends later this month, the results will be forwarded to Pfizer pharmaceuticals for review. Ferrer said Pfizer will decide Dec. 15 whether Save Our Sons was successful.
That decision, he said, will be made public in January and could mean a multimillion-dollar grant to launch similar black men’s health programs in 35 cities across the nation.
Fred Wright, president of the Lorain County Urban League, said Lorain County was chosen from a pool of 102 potential pilot locations for Save Our Sons. It was selected because Wright has experience in other high-profile studies.
Ferrer said it was launched in part because the Ohio Department of Health has ignored the plight of black men.
Even though blacks make up 12 percent of Ohio’s population, a 2004 minority health study by the state ignored the demographic, he said.
The reason? The state’s health study was conducted over the phone, and “black men don’t respond to phone surveys,” Ferrer said. “That’s the excuse we were given.”
Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Jason Hawk | The Chronicle-Telegram September 7th, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 2% |
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