The series will feature such issues as:
Hispanic immigrants' health status;
How racial discrimination can lead to chronic stress that affects blacks;
How job insecurity has affected residents of western Michigan;
Type 2 diabetes prevalence among two American Indian communities in Arizona;
How college-educated black women are more likely to give birth prematurely than white women who do not finish high school; and
A gap in life expectancy between wealthy and working-class neighborhoods in Louisville, Ky.
Christine Herbes-Sommers, one of the filmmakers, said the series aims to demonstrate that "what is written into our bodies is a lifetime of experiences and social conditions. It's not about genes." She added that a theme of the series is that not everyone has access to resources that would help them sustain or improve their health.
She said, "It's easy to say, 'That person doesn't have to eat that way,' or 'They should exercise more.' But if you live in a dangerous neighborhood, or in the suburbs where there are no sidewalks, your choices are constrained" (Blumenstock, Washington Post, 3/23).