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Soul Stroll Raises Awareness of African American Health Issues
On Saturday, May 19, the Glaucoma Research Foundation’s HBCU Leadership Committee participated in the sixth annual Soul Stroll for Health in San Mateo, CA.
GRF board members Michael Penn Sr., Bill Stewart, and their family members, with GRF staff member E. Carmen Torres joined 4,000 members of the community in promoting good nutrition and physical activity as keys to better health.
Soul Stroll for Health is part of the African American Community Health Committee’s “Building a Healthy Body and Soul Project,” the first community-based initiative to partner with African American, Hispanic and Pacific Islander churches that encourages healthy lifestyle choices.
GRF representatives distributed informational health materials on the impact of glaucoma in ethnic populations, and spent time answering Soul Strollers’ questions. Recent research indicates that one million African Americans have glaucoma, and other recent studies show that in Hispanics the risk of having glaucoma can approach 20% in persons over 60 years of age.
Glaucoma occurs about five times more often in African Americans, and blindness from glaucoma is about six times more common. In addition to this higher frequency, glaucoma often occurs earlier in life in African Americans — on average, about 10 years earlier than in other population segments. Nearly half of those with glaucoma do not know they have the disease, which is why raising awareness about the need for comprehensive eye examinations for those in high risk groups is so important.