Study shows how racial discrimination increases risk for childhood obesity - Times of India
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WASHINGTON: As per a new study, children who suffer racial discrimination are more likely to have a higher BMI and a wider waistline later in life. The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, suggest that, in addition to other socioeconomic factors such as family poverty, racial discrimination may be a risk factor for young people developing obesity. "Exposure to racial discrimination must be acknowledged as both a social determinant of obesity and a significant contributor to obesity disparities among children and adolescents," said Adolfo Cuevas, assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences at the NYU School of Global Public Health and the study's lead author. Childhood obesity is a major public health issue in the U.S., affecting nearly one in five children and teens. Black and Hispanic youth experience even higher rates of obesity, which research shows may stem from factors such as poverty, neighborhood access to healthy foods, and single-paren...