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05/29/2009: "Whites blamed for black obesity"
Perceptions of racism - from being treated with suspicion in a store to unfairness in employment or housing - can heighten stress levels and affect health, research has shown. A new study from Boston University links these smoldering signs of racism to weight gain in black women, suggesting a possible explanation for the their higher obesity rates compared to white women.
At the end of the trial, all the women had gained weight. But the women who said they felt higher levels of racism gained more weight and had bigger waist-size increases compared to the women who felt the least racism. That held true after accounting for factors such as education, geographic region, and beginning body mass index.
"Racism is real and it has real effects," Cozier said in an interview. "It can result in real changes in the body.
[ Okay, well then: white women get stressed by blacks and our levels of obesity will get a lot higher as blacks become more numerous than us and more uppity. Didn't anyone figure that fat people get negative self-image stress just from being fat? You can't change your race but you can always improve an unfit body. ]
http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2009/05/experience_of_r.html