REEDLEY, CA – OCTOBER 19: Seventeen year-old Marissa Hamilton (R) walks with friends during a … [+]
In the United States of America, one in five children and adolescents are obese. In the last five decades, researchers have reported a three-fold higher prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity. The Covid-19 pandemic only further exacerbated this public health issue — particularly among children who were six to 11 years old — as the prevalence of obesity doubled in this age group.
While most public health measures focus on diet and exercise, a new JAMA study highlights the importance of also addressing racial discrimination. The study revealed that children who were exposed to racial discrimination had larger waistlines and higher body mass index (BMI) scores. This finding is highly concerning because childhood and adolescent obesity makes young people far more vulnerable to hypertension, diabetes, depression, and sleep apnea.
“Obesity prevalence is not equal across racial or ethnic groups in childhood or adulthood. Black and Hispanic children and adolescents have a higher prevalence of obesity compared with their non-Hispanic White and Asian or Asian American counterparts, placing Black and Hispanic children at an increased risk for obesity-related chronic diseases,” the researchers wrote.
“Despite extensive research on some factors contributing to the increasing prevalence of obesity and obesity disparities, including parent education, single-parent households, poverty, and neighborhood, our understanding of other potential risk factors remains insufficient,” they added. “Exposure to racial discrimination has been recognized as a social determinant of health and a driver of health inequities among children and adolescents.Taunting, harassment, and other types of indignities can have a similar impact on the body as other psychological stressors. They can induce negative emotional reactions and, in turn, stimulate biological and behavioral responses that increase the risk of disease.”
The researchers studied data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study that was conducted from 2017 to 2019. They assessed the data of 6,463 children’s brain development. At the time of the study, they were 9 to 11 years old and lived in different parts of the U.S. Around 40% of them were from minority racial and ethnic communities: 10.5% were Black, 18% were Hispanic and 2.3% were Asian or Pacific Islander children.
They found that children in high-income households were far less likely to be obese but those born in low-income households were at a higher risk. Most importantly, children who were exposed to racism in their daily life had a higher BMI and bigger waists.
“Racial discrimination, as a psychosocial stressor, can lead to a higher BMI. While the mechanisms through which discrimination increases BMI and waist circumference among youths are not yet fully understood, studies have shown that exposure to discrimination can lead to changes in cortisol levels as well as unhealthy eating habits, sleep problems, and poor mental health in children and adolescents,” the researchers explained.
“Black children from high-income families experience higher levels of racial discrimination compared with Black children from lower-income families. In addition, studies suggest that Black boys report more racial discrimination than Black girls. It is important to recognize the complex interplay of these identities because they may have differential influence in the association between discrimination and health outcomes,” they added. “By understanding how intersecting identities relate to discrimination experiences and health outcomes, we can develop more targeted and effective interventions to reduce health disparities.”