Why Are Minorities In the WLS .. Errr, Minority?

I got to thinking about the supposed "natural resistance" that many guys feel toward having WLS.   This topic has come up many times in the past, e.g. how "macho" it is to be a "big man", that "real men don't need WLS", that being O is acceptable for men but not women in American society, etc. etc. , and how those attitudes supposedly contribute to the fact that like only 1 in 8 WLSers are M.  

 I then got to thinking how even fewer of the Ms that have had WLS that I know of are of minority ethnicity ..  I can probably count on two hands the number of African American males I know of that have had WLS (from being an OH member for over 2 years now) and probably on one hand the number of Hispanic males ..  (actually, right now I can only think of our Uniteddude and Ramon - BigDawg - w. OH, off the top of my head).     

  What is up with this?     I don't think it's an income issue, since health insurance doesn't discriminate in that regard ..   then there's always Medicare and even Medicaid for WLS in some states for the "economically disadvantaged" ...

   Anyone have any thoughts on this disparity?   

My .02 is that it is a cultural thing that encourages heavy eating and eating high fat foods in excessive quantities.   Food to eat = economic stability.  That translates across ALL socioeconomic lines.  Sometimes when GF and are out to eat and people see us splitting a meal at first appearance they could draw the conclusion that we are doing it for economic reasons but little do they know!

I agree with Losttxn.  I do think it's a cultural thing and it's tied with financial success/stability or at least it use to be.  My ex-brother in law lives in Atlanta and he is African-American.  He's a Big Boy...and I mean BIG!!!!  His entire family is that way and they would not do anything to change it.  They like their size.  My sister in law told him about me and my wife having WLS and he looked at her like we were crazy.

Look at the Samoans, they strive to be big so it's not just African-Americans or Latinos.  In old Europe size equaled wealth.  The peasants were skinny because they had poor nutrition.  The noblemen were large because they had wealth and better nutrition.

I remember when I was a child my parents and I would go back to their hometown in Virginia in the Applacian Mountains.  My Grandmother would always say "look at you, you're so big and fat".  I always took that as a bad thing.  I would think, you get to see me maybe once a year and wow I just came through the door and you're putting me down.  I learned that she was not putting me down but instead she was saying how healthy I was.

That's just my thoughts on the subject but what do I know........I'm as white as a saltine cracker.

Duane   

Both of you maybe right.  Times are changing.  At the gym younger blacks are very health conscience.  In the markets around my home black customers are smart food shoppers. 
I think healthy and successful has taken on a new look and has advanced concerns for ones health across racial lines.

lol, I am not Hispanic, haha I'm FBI..... FAT BLACK ITALIAN...   I don't claim one or the other.. I am Just Joe

 ohhh k ..  lol ..   

lol does this change the way you really feel about me.. haha..  Eat my carne asada and you'd think I was hispanic.. Eat my curry and you'd think I was from the far east..    Eat my Fried Chicken and you'll wish you had KFC..  I hate deep fat fried food..

It's def a cultural thing.  I got many questions from family members on why I wanted to do this.  **** even my wife questioned me a few times, according to her, she "likes me big".  But I don't like me big, so I had to do it.

It's more acceptable for men to be overweight, I don't know why, but that's the truth.  People have literally told me to just be happy and myself and not worry about weight.  That's wrong advice in so many ways. I've been big all my life.  My mom is big, my sister was big (she had wls), my father and extended family are big----eating is a big part of our culture---very tasty food that's very bad for you.  It comes with the family. 

Also, seeing a doctor in general in the black male community is a lot less common than it should be.  Many of the men in my family rarely see a doctor, as did i before I started this journey a couple of years ago.  I don't know why that is, or what the phobia is, but it's the mentality of "i'm fine, I don't need to see a doc".  Then we wonder why silent killers like heart disease, diabetes, etc take out men way before their time. 

The mentality has to change!  Not saying that everyone overweight needs to have WLS, but we need to be more conscience of our health and the risks.

I know a guy who just died cause he was being too much of a man to go see the doctor for what he thought was a cold and would pass.. Was not a cold,  he had walking pneumonia.   lol didnt know it walked..