Black/White Racial Disparities in Health: A Cross-Country Comparison of Canada and the United States

Research on health disparities in the United States has consistently reported poorer health outcomes among racial/ethnic minorities relative to whites, particularly among African Americans.1-2 In Canada, there are limited studies on racial/ethnic groups, presumably because of concerns about small samples, confidentiality, and an emphasis on socioeconomic inequalities.3 The body of literature regarding black Canadians, which compose 2.5% of the nation, is beginning to emerge.The existing literature indicates that the burden of disease may be greater for black Canadians compared with their white counterparts, and that black Canadians face a number of barriers to achieving good health, including poverty, difficulty accessing health care, discrimination, and poor health behaviors.4-8We obtained nationally representative estimates of health indicators among native-born black Canadians, and compared these estimates with those of native-born white Canadians. We replicated the analyses using a US sample of African Americans . .