Minority women

Many women of color continue to suffer disproportionately from premature death, disease, and disabilities. In 1997, life expectancy was 79.4 for white women, 74.9 for African American women, and 75.7 for all other minority women1. Women of color also have greater prevalence of such chronic illnesses as cardiovascular disease, lupus, certain types of cancer, and diabetes as well as certain infectious diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis, and AIDS. Infant mortality is highest among African American and Puerto Rican women, and maternal mortality is more frequent among African American, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native women than among white women [68]. African American and Hispanic women are also at greater risk than white women of homicide and HIV/AIDS [1].

Women of color are more likely than white women to live in poverty-a factor which is strongly linked to a greater frequency and severity of illness and premature death [1]. Limited access to health care and lower utilization rates for many preventive health services are more prevalent among women of color, due to the legacies of discrimination and dearth of minority providers, as well as to cultural, financial, practical, and other access barriers to health care [67].

Adolescent girls

Adolescence represents a dynamic, developmental period when young women make important choices about life-style behaviors, including diet, physical activity, sexual activity, and use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs that can influence their health and well-being throughout adulthood. The leading cause of death among adolescent girls is unintentional injury [37]. Physical and sexual abuse are experienced by more than 1 in 5 high school girls, and the proportion showing signs of depression is 1 in 469. Surveys indicate that 28 percent of high school girls think they are overweight, 60 percent report trying to lose weight, and 8 percent regularly binge and purge [1], [34]. An estimated 37 percent of teen girls smoked in the last month [1], 48 percent report frequent drinking [1], and 15 percent rarely or never use a seat belt [3].

Youth and young adults under age 24 comprise the least medically served age group in this country. An estimated one in every seven adolescents ages 10-18 years and 27 percent of those ages 19 to 24 has no health insurance [70], [71]. Many more lack access to affordable, comprehensive, and confidential services targeted to their needs [72].