https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180524112343.htm > The study, headed by Kara Whitaker, assistant professor in the UI's Department of Health and Human Physiology, examined 30 years of data on cardiovascular health behaviors, which established that black Americans have lower health behavior scores than whites. > The researchers examined a host of reasons and determined that socioeconomic factors -- notably income and educational level -- influenced the differences in health behaviors between the groups more than other variables, such as an individual's emotional state or the neighborhood in which one lives.