Obesity Risks among Black Populations in the United States: A Test of the Racial Context Framework

• In Event: 30420 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4: Race, Health, and Inequalities

Abstract

Despite the growing number of Black immigrants in the U.S., there is limited knowledge regarding health disparities among this group in comparison to Black individuals from the predominantly White context in the U.S. This study, therefore, tested the Racial Context Hypothesis to examine whether Black minority Immigrants have a lower likelihood of having a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) than Blacks from the majority White context. Using the IPUMS National Health Interview Series of a sample of 78,494, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Regression analysis was conducted to determine if the racial context of origin is a mechanism of BMI differentials between Black immigrants and US-born Black Americans. We found that Black immigrants from racially mixed (Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South America) and majority-Black contexts (Africa) are significantly less likely to have a higher BMI than Blacks from the majority White contexts (US-born Black Americans and European Blacks)- giving credence to the racial context of origin as a consequential for health. This relationship also remained consistent even after adjusting for control variables. Further results showed that Black immigrants who had spent at least five years in the U.S. are more likely to report a higher BMI than those with less than five years of stay- further giving credence to the Racial Context Hypothesis. These findings imply that racism affects the health of Black individuals in predominantly White U.S. contexts, leading to worse outcomes compared to their counterparts from Majority Black and racially mixed contexts.

Keywords: White Context; Black Context; Immigrants; Racial Context; Racially Mixed

Authors

• Bosede Odunola Adejugbe, Utah State University

• Olusola Akintoye Omisakin

• Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde, Utah State University