5.10-P19The weight of racism: obesity, racial discrimination and racial identity among African American college women in the US

Abstract

Obesity disproportionately affects African American (AA) women in the U.S., contributing to other health disparities. Racial discrimination (RD) may contribute to obesity, though prior findings have been inconsistent. Recently, both implicit and explicit racial identity attitudes have been explored as moderators of relationships between RD and health. The purpose of this study was to investigate: 1) whether three manifestations of RD (lifetime, micro-aggressions and vicarious) are associated with obesity in young AA women; and 2) whether explicit or implicit racial identity attitudes moderate these relationships.