A way to look at the differences in health opportunities is to compare racial and ethnic groups about a particular health problem.  When one group has a much higher rate of disease compared to another, then we say that there is health disparity in that group.  

Health disparities can also be uncovered by comparing groups by using other traits, such as age, sex, income, or disability.  Improving opportunities for all Arkansans to make healthy choices will go a long way toward lowering health disparities in our state.

To understand the health problems facing the state it is important to look at the people and how they live.  There are close to three million people living in Arkansas.  Children under the age of 18 make up 23 percent of the population.  Individuals over 65 make up 17 percent.  There are slightly more females than males in Arkansas.  Since women live longer than men, there are increasingly more females than males in the older age groups. 

There are more than 2,380,000 whites in Arkansas, which makes whites the largest racial group.  There are more than 471,000 blacks in Arkansas, which makes blacks the second largest group.  Blacks are 15.4 percent of the population.  The main minority ethnic group in Arkansas is the Latino group.  There are nearly 228,000 Latinos in Arkansas, which is about eight percent of the population.

There are 490,000 people in Arkansas who live with a disability, not including those who live in nursing homes.  This is 18 percent of the total population, which is much higher than the U.S. rate of 13 percent.  Many people with disabilities also live in poverty.