Racial Discrimination, Body Mass Index, and Insulin Resistance: A Longitudinal Analysis

Gene H. Brody; Tianyi Yu; Edith Chen; Katherine B. Ehrlich; Gregory E. Miller

doi:10.1037/hea0000674

Racial Discrimination, Body Mass Index, and Insulin Resistance: A Longitudinal Analysis

Gene H. Brody^*, Tianyi Yu, Edith Chen, Katherine B. Ehrlich, Gregory E. Miller

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To examine prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination at ages 16-18 with body mass index (BMI) at ages 19-21 and insulin resistance (IR) at ages 25 and 27 among Black youth in the rural South, and to determine whether BMI connected discrimination to IR as a mediator. Method: Participants were 315 African American adolescents in rural counties in Georgia who provided data on their perceptions of discrimination during adolescence. BMI was measured during a yearly home visit, and a certified phlebotomist drew a fasting blood sample from which IR was measured. Results: The data analysis, with all confounding variables controlled, revealed that, over time, (a) discrimination was associated positively with both BMI and IR; (b) BMI was associated positively with IR; and (c) BMI acted as a mediator connecting discrimination with IR. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to discrimination presages IR through its effects on BMI.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1107-1114
Number of pages	8
Journal	Health Psychology
Volume	37
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000674
State	Published - Dec 2018

Keywords

African Americans
Body mass index
Insulin resistance
Racism
Rural population

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Psychiatry and Mental health
Applied Psychology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1037/hea0000674

Cite this

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title = "Racial Discrimination, Body Mass Index, and Insulin Resistance: A Longitudinal Analysis",

abstract = "Objective: To examine prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination at ages 16-18 with body mass index (BMI) at ages 19-21 and insulin resistance (IR) at ages 25 and 27 among Black youth in the rural South, and to determine whether BMI connected discrimination to IR as a mediator. Method: Participants were 315 African American adolescents in rural counties in Georgia who provided data on their perceptions of discrimination during adolescence. BMI was measured during a yearly home visit, and a certified phlebotomist drew a fasting blood sample from which IR was measured. Results: The data analysis, with all confounding variables controlled, revealed that, over time, (a) discrimination was associated positively with both BMI and IR; (b) BMI was associated positively with IR; and (c) BMI acted as a mediator connecting discrimination with IR. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to discrimination presages IR through its effects on BMI.",

keywords = "African Americans, Body mass index, Insulin resistance, Racism, Rural population",

author = "Brody, {Gene H.} and Tianyi Yu and Edith Chen and Ehrlich, {Katherine B.} and Miller, {Gregory E.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by award number R01 HD030588 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and award number P30 DA027827 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 American Psychological Association.",

year = "2018",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1037/hea0000674",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "37",

pages = "1107--1114",

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T1 - Racial Discrimination, Body Mass Index, and Insulin Resistance

T2 - A Longitudinal Analysis

AU - Brody, Gene H.

AU - Yu, Tianyi

AU - Chen, Edith

AU - Ehrlich, Katherine B.

AU - Miller, Gregory E.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by award number R01 HD030588 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and award number P30 DA027827 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 American Psychological Association.

PY - 2018/12

Y1 - 2018/12

N2 - Objective: To examine prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination at ages 16-18 with body mass index (BMI) at ages 19-21 and insulin resistance (IR) at ages 25 and 27 among Black youth in the rural South, and to determine whether BMI connected discrimination to IR as a mediator. Method: Participants were 315 African American adolescents in rural counties in Georgia who provided data on their perceptions of discrimination during adolescence. BMI was measured during a yearly home visit, and a certified phlebotomist drew a fasting blood sample from which IR was measured. Results: The data analysis, with all confounding variables controlled, revealed that, over time, (a) discrimination was associated positively with both BMI and IR; (b) BMI was associated positively with IR; and (c) BMI acted as a mediator connecting discrimination with IR. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to discrimination presages IR through its effects on BMI.

AB - Objective: To examine prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination at ages 16-18 with body mass index (BMI) at ages 19-21 and insulin resistance (IR) at ages 25 and 27 among Black youth in the rural South, and to determine whether BMI connected discrimination to IR as a mediator. Method: Participants were 315 African American adolescents in rural counties in Georgia who provided data on their perceptions of discrimination during adolescence. BMI was measured during a yearly home visit, and a certified phlebotomist drew a fasting blood sample from which IR was measured. Results: The data analysis, with all confounding variables controlled, revealed that, over time, (a) discrimination was associated positively with both BMI and IR; (b) BMI was associated positively with IR; and (c) BMI acted as a mediator connecting discrimination with IR. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to discrimination presages IR through its effects on BMI.

KW - African Americans

KW - Body mass index

KW - Insulin resistance

KW - Racism

KW - Rural population

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Racial Discrimination, Body Mass Index, and Insulin Resistance: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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