USA Today (7/11, Weintraub) reports, “Racism contributes to childhood obesity, according to” findings published online in JAMA Network Open, revealing that “children as young as nine were more likely to meet the definition of obesity if they faced racism a year earlier.” The study revealed “large racial differences in the obesity rates of more than 6,000 children ages 9-11.” For example, “less than 7% of children who identified as white met the medical definition for having obesity, compared to 9% of Asian Americans, 18% of Hispanics of any race, 21% of Native Americans or Alaskan natives and more than 24% of Black Americans.”
Related Links:
— “A catalyst for childhood obesity: How racism has ‘huge implications’ for health trajectory,”Karen Weintraub, USA Today, July 11, 2023