Posted on October 16, 2019

Trump Policies, Racism May Cause Some Black Women’s Weight Problems, Professor Says

Dom Calicchio, Fox News, October 16, 2019

Do President Trump’s policies make me look fat?

That’s the sort of question some black women may be asking themselves, a Rutgers University professor suggested during a recent appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Although, more accurately, the problem may be the stress and anxiety caused by the policies than the policies themselves, Brittney Cooper, who teaches gender studies at the New Jersey-based university, said on a recent episode of “Black Women OWN the Conversation.”

Research shows black women lose weight more slowly than white women, and the Trump presidency may be exacerbating the situation, Cooper said on the program, according to CampusReform.org.

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Increased stress could be changing black women’s metabolisms to the point where it becomes more difficult to shed extra pounds, she said.

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She added: “It’s literally that the racism that you’re experiencing and the struggle to make ends meet actually means the diet don’t [sic] work for you the same.”

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