Elizabeth Cooney, Boston Globe, May 26, 2009
Perceptions of racism—from being treated with suspicion in a store to unfairness in employment or housing—can heighten stress levels and affect health, research has shown. A new study from Boston University links these smoldering signs of racism to weight gain in black women, suggesting a possible explanation for the their higher obesity rates compared to white women.
Yvette Cozier, an epidemiologist at the Slone Epidemiology Center at BU, led a survey of more than 43,000 women enrolled in the long-running Black Women’s Health Study. Writing in the June issue of Annals of Epidemiology, she and her co-authors describe participants’ reports on their weight, body mass index, and perceptions of racism.
At the beginning of the eight-year study, the women were asked if they sometimes felt they were treated poorly in a restaurant or store, whether they thought people considered them dishonest or less intelligent, and if they had felt unfairness on the job, in housing, or from police. The women, 21 to 69 years old at the study’s outset, were placed in four groups based on how frequently they said they experienced these signs of racism. Their weight was recorded every two years from 1997 through 2005. Their waist circumference was measured at the beginning and end.
At the end of the trial, all the women had gained weight. But the women who said they felt higher levels of racism gained more weight and had bigger waist-size increases compared to the women who felt the least racism. That held true after accounting for factors such as education, geographic region, and beginning body mass index.
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Higher stress changes hormone levels that influence food choices and where in the body fat is stored, the authors write. That makes an association between the stress of racism and weight gain, particularly around the waist, fit with other research in humans and animals, they say.
Cozier said she was interested in learning whether there was another reason beyond diet and exercise that could explain why black women tend to be heavier than white women. Her study did not include white women, so a direct comparison is not possible, she said, but the unique experience of racism appears to be a potential contributor to the difference.
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Original article
(Posted on May 27, 2009)
Comments
I’m sure we can extend the ‘stimulus’ package a bit more to provide all these oppressed women with free memberships to Ballys. Even then, I doubt any of them would bother taking advantage of the program because of some other form of perceived ‘racism’.
Of course it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with lack of impulse control, which blacks and Hispanics are so well known for.
It is odd that “racism” against Asians makes them small, skinny, and good at math, whereas “racism” against Africans makes them fat. I wonder if “racism” against Native Americans is what makes their skin reddish? This racisim business sure is confusing!
What needs to be done? Should we have an outreach program to encourage more black men and women to participate? Was the race not promoted as ‘diverse’ and ‘inclusive’? Were blacks made not to feel welcome by virtue that those who participated were majority white?
Blacks eat too much and have little interest in maintaining good health through exercise. Poor life choices have nothing to do with ‘racism’. ‘Racism’ is however, the universal excuse blacks use to justify their own failings.
It’s clear that constant exposure to racist humiliation reduces resistance to temptation, not only in matters relating to obesity, but also in factors related to drug addiction, criminality, promiscuity, and single parentage.
There is simply no other rational explantion for these problems.
Perhaps we should devote study to the effects of racism on East Asians in order to determine why they don’t seem to suffer these resultant difficulties.
Now if every black woman wants to go to the local fried chicken franchise(KFC,Church’s,Popeye’s,) and buy a bucket of chicken that feeds a family of 8 for herself she does not have to feel guilty about it. Their gluttonous intake is only a result of racism. Elevated stress levels caused by racism make these woman powerless to control any impulse to eat.
“Her study did not include white women, so a direct comparison is not possible, she said, but the unique experience of racism appears to be a potential contributor to the difference”.
If she didn’t study white women, how can she come to the conclusion of racism-causing-obesity? Here’s my theory: obesity is due to OVEREATING. Lay off the KFC!!!
” … the women were asked if they sometimes felt they were treated poorly in a restaurant or store, whether they thought people considered them dishonest or less intelligent, and if they had felt unfairness on the job, in housing, or from police.”
The usual hogwash. Notice there’s never any objective evidence of “racism” in these studies; they always rely on what their “subjects” tell them. Has a black woman ever answered “no” to any of the above questions? And is it possible that these women are dishonest, unintelligent, or in actual legal trouble?
Nor is there any mention of diet. Anyone who has ever been stuck behind a black woman in a grocery store checkout line probably has a scientfically sound idea of what causes disproportionate obesity among blacks, an idea that has more to do with nutrition than with “racism.”
“Her study did not include white women, so a direct comparison is not possible
These blacks don’t care about comparisons, only that they have apparently found a way to blame Whitey for them being FAT!!
It’s white racism that causes kinky hair too. Whites have a moral duty to provide blacks with funds to get a “process” job. This would finally close the beauty gap and the world would be a wonderful place to live in.
What’s funny is these folks believe in racial differences for real more than the racists do.
Oh this is getting ridiculous already - even by the usual standards! There is NOTHING that negatively impacts Blacks that hasn’t been officially written-off as “racism” of one sort or another. How can anyone still buy into this obvious nonsense and excuse-making?!
Did they ask these woman whether they had been sexually abused by a brother or a uncle? Oh no, but I believe it’s an important factor.It causes depression,anger,guilt,lack of trust.Prehaps some of these women subconciously want to be fat so the men won’t have anything to do with them.There is a lot of sexual abuse going on,look at Africa,all the rapes.If they squeal,they are scorned. I remember one black girl saying she was tossed around like a basket ball…………….so if they had asked about the abuse @had counselers available their lives might have been turn around…
What interesting times we live in! Has there ever before been a down-trodden, poverty-stricken population that had a problem with obesity?
I am completely speechless here people. The article about teachers and schools from today’s article collection was ridiculous enough, but this is absolutely out of this world!
“At the beginning of the eight-year study…”
EIGHT YEARS!!!! How much of the long-suffering American taxpayers’ money has been ploughed into this ‘study’ to erroneously come to the conclusion that when black women become more obese as time passes that it is due to (magic word) RACISM!
“At the end of the trial, all the women had gained weight…”
Really? Usually that happens you know.
“At the beginning of the eight-year study, the women were asked if they sometimes felt they were treated poorly in a restaurant or store, whether they thought people considered them dishonest or less intelligent, and if they had felt unfairness on the job, in housing, or from police.”
For God’s sake, talk about a leading question - of course they are going to say yes! It was probably a series of multiple choice questions listing ‘potentially weight-gaining racial situations’ most probably ending with an ‘or all of the above!’
How many of you lot reading this article here have been discriminated against? Seriously. Maybe more than you know. A woman flat out told me at a job interview that she wouldn’t hire me because I was male. A female co-worker pinched me on the a@&% once - what if I did that to her? Anyway, after such “terrible psychological let downs” , believe it or not, I didn’t feel the urge to go to McDonalds.
It is odd that “racism” against Asians makes them small, skinny, and good at math, whereas “racism” against Africans makes them fat. I wonder if “racism” against Native Americans is what makes their skin reddish? This racisim business sure is confusing!
Good one - very witty! I laughed out loud.
Good luck out there!
Anders
“Her study did not include white women, so a direct comparison is not possible…”
Oh well, they don’t matter anyway, do they…
Then they need to explain two things:
1.) Why are the obese white women?
I think this is interesting, but for another reason. If anyone saw the movie “Apocalypto”, you may have noticed how muscular the corn fed Mayans were compared to the jungle dwellers.I have read that West African men were early agriculturalists, and this type of society leads to hyper-masculinty in men; I wonder if it also leads to plumpness in women. in other words to extremes of hormonal effect.
If racism causes weight gain then why were the apartheid South African Africans not morbidly obese? If this theory is correct they should be because South Africa was so awful, or so they tell us, but we don’t see this so either the weight gain theory is wrong or South Africa wasn’t as bad as they like to tell us.
