Atlanta, GA (BlackNews.com) — Women’s health advocacy is making tremendous strides, with government, foundations, non-profits and private industry leading the charge for greater awareness and treatment of health conditions impacting women. But unfortunately the same intensity has not been unleashed to adequately address health problems for men.

While outreach efforts have raised the awareness of breast cancer, urged women to seek proper prenatal care and lead to critical research into the major health problems of women, there seems overall to be far less advocacy for men. As a result, there has been far slower progress at addressing the chronic illnesses disproportionately striking men.

In fact, the health conditions of African American men exemplify the disparity, with black men experiencing some of the poorest health outcomes of any demographic in American society. The National Center for Health Statistics says life expectancy for a black male child born in 2004 is 69.5 years, compared with 75.7 years for white males born the same year.

To be sure, the statistics tell a bleak story about the health outcomes of African American men. Black men have higher death rates than women for all the leading causes of death. Moreover, black men suffer from higher rates of prostate cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke and other chronic illnesses.

The reasons for these disparities range from the impact of racial discrimination to poor access to healthcare services to the barriers caused by poverty to a lack of information about preventive care and many other factors.

What’s clear, however, is that if research, preventive awareness and unhealthy behavior for men are ever going to change, it will take an advocacy effort similar to what feminists did for the women’s health movement. Clearly, it was the campaign by women’s activists that changed the nation’s attitude towards women’s health. Now, the same is needed to help change health outcomes for men.

In parts of the country, there are advocacy programs that are making a difference. In 2008, the Lorain (Ohio) County Branch of National Urban League in partnership with Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved at Morehouse School of Medicine and Pfizer launched a Save Ours Sons program for 42 African American males.

The program’s objective was to develop a national, replicable health education model to reduce diabetes and obesity in African-American men, as well as connect program participants with comprehensive primary healthcare providers. The six-week program had a tremendous impact. At the start of the program only eight participants had a regular physician. After the intervention, 29 had a primary care physician. In addition, there were other healthy results. For instance, the participants:

* Increased exercise levels (98% exceeded goal of 150 min/week)
* Decreased obesity and overweight status by 7%
* Decreased hypertension by 23%
* Increased health insurance enrollment by more than 58%
* Increased local media attention about African-American men’s health by 400%.

Meanwhile, in Detroit the 100 Black Men of Greater Detroit, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the American Cancer Society joined together to sponsor an awareness campaign aimed at reducing deaths from prostate cancer. Members of 100 Black Men are visiting locations in the community, such as churches, barbershops and community centers to distribute information about prostate cancer, while giving advice on how to improve their overall health.

Programs, such as these, are helping in local communities. But advocacy for improving the health of men also must become a national cause.

It’s time for men’s health to become a top priority for the nation.

Dr. Henrie M. Treadwell is director of Community Voices of Morehouse School of Medicine, an organization working to improve health services and health-care access for all. Dr. Clare Xanthos is senior researcher of Community Voices. Media seeking interviews with Dr. Treadwell or Dr. Clare Xanthos please contact Nicole Germain at 443-540-3121 or ngermain@mjgcommunications.com to schedule.

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“…it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” ~1 Peter 1:16

What does holy mean? I did some research and found that it is defined as having a moral standard of living, Christ-like in character, separate, pure, set apart. It was defined in spiritual terms, as a spiritual position or state of being. And while I agree with those definitions, I think too often we think that holiness is merely a spiritual thing. Meaning, if we attend church, read our bibles, serve in ministry, don’t cuss or drink, or commit other sins (that we’re aware of), we believe we have achieved holiness. Today I’d like to discuss another side to holy living; the reality that to be like Christ, we have to attend to not just the spiritual, but the physical.

The word says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” It goes on to tell us in the 20^th verse of the same chapter that we were bought with a price; to honor God with our bodies. If we are going to be Christ-like we must honor him not just with our spirits, but with our physical temples as well.

Many of us, try as we like, are only half-holy. We know the word. We haven’t skipped over this scripture in the bible, so what keeps us from taking care of the Lord’s temple? What is really holding us back from the place of complete holiness to God? I think it’s our hungry hearts and our aching spirits.

Despite the billions spent on diet and health products, Americans are more overweight than ever. The problem of obesity is epidemic. The solutions of diet and exercise are not the singular remedy. The root cause has to be addressed to really get a handle on the problem. It’s not just a love of food, or a lack of discipline. We like to blame it on those things because we often don’t like to talk about the real reasons we overeat. Usually they’re intensely personal. Here are a few:

• We need comfort when we’re stressed, tired or overworked. We know this, because we call the foods we reach for comfort foods.
• We are depressed or anxious.
• We need to anesthetize pain from abuse: current or past. Self-medication.
• Boredom. Our lives are unfulfilled.

We have to break these cycles of destructive behavior or they will destroy us. Obesity, irregular insulin levels, fatty levels in the blood all beat the temple God has given us down to a battered pulp. Then what do we do with our battered bodies? The battered body is sluggish and tired. It doesn’t want to go to mid week services, or even interact with its children. The battered body doesn’t want to make love to its spouse. It’s too beat up to enjoy life fully. Additionally there are obesity related diseases like diabetes, heart diseases, certain cancers, joint deterioration and more aliments that tear at the temple and keep us from being whole in our physical person.

In my novel, Secrets and Lies, the character Jonah Morgan is not overeating, but he is using another unhealthy coping mechanism: alcohol, and lots of it. Jonah’s heart is hungry for a relationship with Christ; his spirit is aching from the burden of un-forgiveness. His childhood pain is tearing him apart, so much so that he has completely checked out emotionally and physically on his family. He can’t sleep at night. He’s tired. His hungry heart and aching spirit have created a battered body.

Jonah’s alcoholism is an unhealthy, addictive behavior. So is overeating. Anything we do in excess is gluttony. Gluttony is the sin that keeps us from achieving true holiness. If you’re overweight or you engage in some other activity that negatively affects you physically, get at the root cause of your problem. Find out what’s eating you before it literary gobbles you up.

Let’s discuss this. Have you ever compared substance abuse to overeating? Do you think this comparison is accurate? Can a person’s heart be completely surrendered to God if they have an eating problem? Share why you agree or disagree. Feel free to share your testimony in this area or a plan for change.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rhonda McKnight is the owner of Legacy Editing, a free-lance editing service for fiction writers and Urban Christian Fiction Today, a popular Internet site that highlights African-American Christian fiction. She’s the vice-president of Faith Based Fiction Writers of Atlanta. When she’s not editing projects, teaching workshops about writing or penning her next novel, she spends time with her family. Originally from a small, coastal town in New Jersey, she’s called Atlanta, Georgia home for twelve years. For more information, visit http://www.RhondaMcKnight.net.

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We have known for years that numbers are special to God. They are all through his divine plan for this world and the New Jerusalem to come. Some of the numbers that we can identify within the Bible are 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 24 and 50 to list a few. We walk in the blessing of God based partly through numbers.

The number 10 represents the perfection of divine order. When we look at the year 2010, we need to understand its significance and what it means to us. Every year, every decade, and every century marks something significant to God. Numerically 0-10 represents every numeric value in the English number system. So then when we get to 10 we have covered all the numeric symbols that would be used. It is important that the people of God take this year seriously and walk in the blessings of God with great expectations.

We can literally go through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and find God using the number 10 as a variable in his blessing formulas. Let’s take a few minutes and go through the Bible.

Genesis 5:14
And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

Genesis 8:5
And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

Genesis 50:26
So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Exodus 26:1
Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Exodus 34:28
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

Joshua 24:29
And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

1 Samuel 21:11
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

2 Kings 20:10
And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

Psalm 90:10
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

The above are just a few scriptural references for the record. As you can see, the number 10 plays an important role in biblical history.

Cain, Joseph and Joshua received their years of living plus ten. It was the tenth month that water finally receded enough for land to appear again after the flood in Noah’s time. God gave Ten Commandments to Moses that we still honor today. The tabernacle of God was surrounded by ten curtains. The Holy Ghost fell upon those in the upper room ten days after Jesus ascended back to glory. In Malachi chapter 3 we find that if we follow the principle of tithing God will opens windows of blessing for us. What is tithing a tenth of what we earn.

This is the year for divine perfection in your ministry, finances and life in general. Just like the receding of the waters believe God for the pulling down of strongholds, debt payoffs and cancellations so that you can tread above waters again. God wants to make a profound statement through you and in you that will be everlasting from generation to generations. God caused fire to fall down from heaven ten times. (Gen19:24, Lev 9:24, Lev 10:2, Num 11:1, Num 16:35, 1Kings 18:38, 2 Kings 1:10, 2 Kings 1:12, 1 Chron 21:26, 2 Chron 7:1) each time was a statement to prove to the opposition that he is God alone. God wants to burn some things off of you and from around you that your adversaries will know once and for all that you serve a true and living God.

Beloved this tenth year in 2000 is the completion and promotion for all of the saints who have been going through hell. Lift up your heads oh ye gates and the king of Glory shall come in! This is your year to be blessed tremendously above all that you can ask or think!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pastor Sam Livingston is a seasoned pastor, lecturer, teacher and Author of “The Essentials of Fellowship”. He is married to Meraldine Hicks Livingston and blessed to have two children, Sammy K Livingston Jr. and Candace I Livingston. Pastor Livingston is a graduate of NC A&T State University; B.S., Webster University; Business Administration, MA and he is a student at Luther Rice Seminary’s Master of Divinity program. Total Package Ministry airs via television bi-weekly throughout Coastal South Carolina. He thanks God for the opportunity to carry the healing ministry to a hurting nation.

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