White adults: overweight

White adults: overweight

In a new study certain white adults are more likely to be obese than their peers who haven't perceived personal discrimination. The study reported that perceived unfair treatment was associated with increased abdominal girth. Weight was not, however, clearly related to feelings of discrimination among black and Hispanic adults. For the study, researchers analyzed data on 3,025 adults who had taken part in a Chicago area health study. Participants were weighed and interviewed about their health habits and demographics. They were also asked about perceived discrimination including how often they believed they'd been treated disrespectfully, received poorer service than other people or felt threatened or harassed. Overall, the researchers found, one quarter of study participants said they'd been discriminated against based on race or ethnicity, while 40% believed they'd been treated unfairly based on other reasons.

White ethnic groups "have historically been discriminated against," the researchers point out. They may experience higher levels of perceived discrimination than do other Whites, and this experience "may adversely affect their health."

In contrast, there was no clear evidence that weight was related to perceived bias among black and Hispanic adults.