Findings suggest racial discrimination may be a risk factor for obesity in young people, in addition to other socioeconomic factors such as family poverty
Post Date – Sunday 23rd July 16th at 12:37pm
Washington DC: Children who experience racial discrimination are more likely to have a higher body mass index and wider waistlines later in life, according to a new study.
The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, suggest that racial discrimination may be a risk factor for obesity among young people, in addition to other socioeconomic factors such as family poverty. “Experiencing racial discrimination must be recognized as both a social determinant of obesity and an important contributor to disparities in childhood and adolescent obesity,” said Adolfo Cuevas, assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences at NYU School of Global Public Health and lead author. .
Childhood obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, affecting nearly one in five children and adolescents. Obesity rates are even higher among black and Hispanic youth, which research suggests may stem from factors such as poverty, community access to healthy food and single-parent households.
Another known stressor, racial discrimination, puts people at risk for a range of health problems, including sleep problems, high cortisol levels and poor mental health, a growing body of research has found. While racial discrimination is associated with higher body mass index in adults, less is known about its impact on children and adolescents. The researchers examined data from 6,463 children ages 9 to 11 from across the United States who participated in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study from 2017 to 2019. They first measured young people’s experiences of racism by asking them to reflect on whether they had been racized. Being treated unfairly by others because of your race or ethnicity. After a year, they measured the participants’ body mass index (calculated from weight and height) and waist circumference.
The researchers found that even after adjusting for known socioeconomic risk factors for obesity, including family income and parental education level, children who experienced severe racial discrimination had a higher body mass index and larger waist circumference a year later. They concluded that reducing racial discrimination and its adverse effects on early-life health may help limit the risk of weight gain throughout life.
“We tested for discrimination at some point in time, but it’s important to recognize that long-term exposure to racial discrimination has the potential to further increase obesity risk. Therefore, preventing or at least mitigating the effects of discrimination early on may reduce obesity risk,” Cuevas said. He is also a scholar at the Center for Anti-Racism, Social Justice, and Public Health at NYU School of Global Public Health, said.
He added: “Researchers, clinicians, educators and policy makers must join forces with communities to develop evidence-based strategies aimed at preventing racial discrimination to improve obesity at the population level.”
In addition to Cuevas, authors of the study include Brennan Rhodes-Bratton and Shu Xi of New York University; Danielle Krobath, Jesulagbarami Omolade and Aniyah Perry of Tufts University; and Natalie Spoon of Harvard University. The ABCD study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and other federal partners.
