In its first release since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recently unveiled the latest LA County Health Survey, with results skewing poorly as it relates to Black and Latino residents.
The Health Survey has been conducted periodically since 1997, last released in 2018. The latest survey, encapsulating data taken in 2023, covers trends in health behaviors, conditions, neighborhood settings and the needs of LA County residents. Information was collected from 9,372 adults and 7,391 children via a survey covering health status, conditions, behaviors and other relevant topics.
Many of these topics touched on the fact that Black and Latino adults continue to struggle in health sectors like disproportional, access to care and economic security.
“The 2023 LA County Health Survey findings confront us with the stark realities of how historical inequities continue to shape the health and well-being of our communities, especially among our Black and Latinx residents,” said Director of Public Health Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd. “These disparities are the result of deeply ingrained systemic injustices and policies that have, for too long, marginalized communities, affecting access to care and resources needed for good health. Along with our community partners, Public Health is committed to advancing equity and justice. It’s through our collective efforts that we can ensure that every individual, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life.”
Survey results found that Black adults experienced poorer health outcomes compared to other racial and ethnic groups in several areas. For example, 38% of Black adults reported having been diagnosed with hypertension, compared to 31.8% for White individuals and 25.7% for Asian survey takers. Black adults also reported the highest rate of current asthma (10.6%) among racial and ethnic groups, found to have significantly higher levels of obesity than White and Asian adults (nearly 40%), and had a higher self-reported prevalence of diabetes diagnoses (12.9%) than White adults (8.3%).
Several health and economic factors played into these results, such as nutrition insecurity and housing burden. In 2023, 34.7% of Black adults reported living in nutritionally insecure households, which is defined as finding it either somewhat hard, hard, or very hard for a household to regularly eat healthy foods in the past 12 months. The survey says that healthy foods are “foods that support health and well-being” and include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, yogurt and fish. Black households were also observed to be disproportionately impacted by housing burden, defined as spending more than 30% of income on rent or mortgage, of which 65.4% of LA County Black households were reported as doing.
In surveying Latino adults, the Public Health department noted that the ethnic group is “not a monolith and come from many different nationalities, backgrounds and races,” but the survey focused on the “broader” adult population. In this population, Latino responders reported the highest rate of diabetes diagnosis (13.5%) among racial and ethnic groups, as well as the highest number of reports of having ever had a COVID-19 infection (65.1%), with the exception of the “Non-Hispanic Multiracial or Other Race” group.
The group also reported significant barriers to accessing healthcare, with the uninsurance rate remaining highest among Latino adults compared to all other racial and ethnic groups. Furthermore, Latino adults had the worst healthcare access rates, with 26.5% of responders reporting not having a regular source of care in 2023, an increase of nearly 7% from the 2018 survey.