Race and health

Race and health refers to the relationship between individual health and one's race and ethnicity. Differences in health status, health outcomes, life expectancy, and many other indicators of health in different racial and ethnic groups is well documented, referred to as health disparities. Race is a complex concept, and the two major competing theories of race use biological definitions and social construction to define racial difference. Although this relationship can vary depending on the definitions used, race is generally used in the context of health research as a fluid concept to group populations of people according to various factors that include but are not limited to ancestry, social identity, visible phenotype, and genetic makeup. Determinants of health include environmental, social, and genetic factors, as well as the person's individual characteristics and behaviors.

Health disparities refer to gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial and ethnic groups. The US Health Resources and Services Administration defines health disparities as "population-specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes, or access to health care". Health is measured through variables such as life expectancy and incidence of diseases.

How researchers view race is often linked to how we address racial disparities because the national administrator of health uses these research findings to implement policies.

For more information, see the Health equity page's section on "Ethnic and racial disparities".

There are various paradigms used to discuss race, including biological and social views. Definitions have changed throughout history to yield a modern understanding of race that is complex and fluid. Moreover, there is no one definition that stands, as there are many competing and interlocking ways to look at race. The terms race, genetic population, ethnicity, geographic population, and ancestry are used interchangeably in everyday discourse involving race.

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