Evidence of inequalities
There is a range of national evidence on the health and wider inequalities affecting ethnically diverse groups.
- People from ethnic minority groups are more likely than those from the White British group to report having long-term illnesses and poor health. This is particularly true of those from the White Gypsy and Irish Traveller Groups, and Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups.
- Childhood Obesity rates are higher in Black and Asian children
- Children in Black and Asian households are twice as likely to live in a low-income household than children from White households
- Children from South Asian families are less likely than children from White families to be physically active
- South Asian groups are more likely to develop heart disease at an earlier age than the White British population
- Those in South Asian and Black groups are more likely to develop diabetes than the White population.
- People from Black African and Black Caribbean ethnic groups were most likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19
- Covid-19 death rates in hospitals were highest among people from Black and Asian ethnic groups
- People of Bangladeshi ethnicity had twice the risk of dying of Covid-19 compared to people of white British ethnicity
- There was a 10% to 50% greater risk of death from Covid-19 among people of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, Caribbean, and other ethnicities when compared to white British people
The Communities team within the Public Health Division is leading on developing deeper dive work into the health inequalities in different communities, this includes the Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review project.
