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Show Population by Race/Ethnicity Environmental factors, socioeconomic status and cultural values can influence the health status of various ethnic groups. The health status of a population can be influenced by its race and ethnicity distribution, as rates for mortality and morbidity vary somewhat by race. Therefore, when analyzing the health status of a population it is important to examine the racial and ethnic distribution. In 1990, 93.8% of Utah's population was classified as white, compared to 80.3% of the national population. The percentage of black people in Utah is 0.7%, substantially lower than 12.1% for the nation. Hispanics are the largest minority group in Utah; they comprise 4.6% of Utah's population. When compared to the nation, a larger percentage of Utah's population is American Indian. Measuring health status is difficult for small populations where small differences in the number of deaths or health events can have large effects on the rates. Caution must be exercised when interpreting data from small populations. Table 5. Percent of Population by Race/Ethnicity American White Hispanic* Indian, Eskimo, Asian or Black Other or Aleut Pacific Islander Year Utah U.S. Utah U.S. Utah U.S. Utah U.S. Utah U.S. Utah U.S. 1980 94.6 83.1 4.1 6.4 1.3 0.6 1.0 1.5 0.6 11.7 2.4 3.0 1990 93.8 80.3 4.9 9.0 1.4 0.8 1.9 2.9 0.7 12.1 2.2 3.9 Those who report Hispanic origin can be of any race. Figure 7 White (U.S.) White (Utah) Hispanic (U.S.) Hispanic (Utah) Asian/Islander (U.S.) Asian/Islander (Utah) American Indian (U.S.) American Indian (Utah) Black (U.S.) Black (Utah) Other (U.S.) Other (Utah) Population by Race/Ethnicity H---1---1 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1996 37 |
