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White Populations

Smithsonian Institute J.C. Huntington School Scene Early 20th Century http://www.smithsonian.org/copyright/

Whites are people having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.1 According to the 2000 U.S. Census, those who identify only as white comprise approximately 70 percent of the total U.S. population. The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2060, white Americans will comprise less than 50 percent of the total U.S. population. The greatest concentrations of this population are in the Midwest and Northeast, especially Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, North Dakota, West Virginia, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado.2

White Americans belong to a variety of ethnic groups with distinct languages, dialects, and cultures. Whites represent both extremes of socioeconomic and health status. Some white families have been in the United States for many generations; others are recent immigrants.  The health status of white Americans is often used as the “baseline” against which other racial and ethnic groups are measured. However, whites experience many of the same health problems as other groups. Factors that contribute to poor health outcomes among whites include lack of access to health care and lack of health insurance.

For more details about white populations, see US Census 2000 Brief: The White Population.

Ten Leading Causes of death in the U.S. in 2001 for white non-Hispanic Americans:

  1. Heart disease
  2. Cancer
  3. Stroke
  4. Chronic lower respiratory disease
  5. Unintentional injuries
  6. Diabetes
  7. Influenza and Pneumonia
  8. Alzheimer's disease
  9. Nephritis, Nephrotic syndrome, and Nephrosis
  10. Suicide

Source: Health, U.S., 2003, Table 31.

In addition, whites have disproportionately high prevalence of the following conditions and risk factors:

Maroon Square Hypertension
Maroon Square Obesity

For more information about these topics see the following links:

  National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)
  National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP)
  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
  National Immunization Program (NIP)
  National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
  National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
  National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
  Alzheimer's Association
  American Cancer Society (ACS)
  American Diabetes Association (ADA)
  American Heart Association (AHA)
  American Lung Association (ALA)


Funding:

 

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Sources:

  1 Census Bureau, Census 2000 Brief: Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, 2000.
  2 Census Bureau, Census 2000.

Notes:

  Census 2000 adheres to the federal standards for collecting and presenting data on race and Hispanic origin as established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in October 1997 and subsequent guidelines.  One of the most important changes for Census 2000 was the revision of the questions on race and Hispanic origin to better reflect the country’s growing diversity. The federal government considers race and Hispanic origin to be two separate and distinct concepts. In addition, Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders are counted as two separate and distinct racial groups. Because of these changes, the Census 2000 data on race are not directly comparable with data from the 1990 census or earlier censuses. Caution must be used when interpreting changes in the racial composition of the U.S. population over time.
  Census Bureau Glossary of Terms: Race, 2000.
  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Provisional Guidance on the Implementation of the 1997 Standards for Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, 2000.
  Office of Management and Budget Recommendations from the Interagency Committee for the Review of the Racial and Ethnic Standards to the Office of Management and Budget Concerning Changes to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicit, 1997.


 
 

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Last Updated on November 03, 2004
Office of Minority Health

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