Beyond Race/Ethnicity: Skin Color and Cardiometabolic Health Among Blacks and Hispanics in the United States

We investigated whether darker interviewerascribed skin color is associated with worse cardiometa-bolic health among young adult Blacks and Hispanics in the United States. Our sample was comprised of 2,128 non-Hispanic Blacks and 1603 Hispanics aged 24-32, who were in high school in the United State...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of immigrant and minority health 2017-10, Vol.19 (5), p.1018-1026
Main Authors: Wassink, Joshua, Perreira, Krista M., Harris, Kathleen M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
African Americans
African Americans - statistics & numerical data
Ascription
Black people
Blood Pressure
Body Mass Index
Cardiovascular diseases
Color
Comparative Law
Continental Population Groups
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus - ethnology
Ethnic Groups
Ethnicity
Female
Glycated Hemoglobin A
Health problems
Health risks
Health Status
Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data
Hispanic people
Hispanic/Latino Health
Humans
Hypertension
Hypertension - ethnology
Immigrants
International & Foreign Law
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Minority & ethnic groups
Mortality
Obesity
Obesity - ethnology
Original Paper
Private International Law
Public Health
Race
Residence Characteristics
Risk Factors
Skin
Skin color
Skin Pigmentation
Socioeconomic Factors
Sociology
United States - epidemiology
Well being
Young adults
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Summary:We investigated whether darker interviewerascribed skin color is associated with worse cardiometa-bolic health among young adult Blacks and Hispanics in the United States. Our sample was comprised of 2,128 non-Hispanic Blacks and 1603 Hispanics aged 24-32, who were in high school in the United States in 1994. We used logistic and OLS regression to predict obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiometabolic risk. We tested the interaction between Hispanic immigrant generation and ascribed skin color. Darker ascribed skin color predicted worse cardiometabolic health among both young adult Blacks and Hispanics. Among Hispanics, the associations were strongest among third and higher generation respondents. Our findings suggest that among US Blacks and Hispanics how individuals are perceived by others via their skin color is significantly associated with their health and well-being. Gradients in cardiometabolic health in young adulthood will likely contribute to gradients in cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality later in life.
ISSN:1557-1912
1557-1920
DOI:10.1007/s10903-016-0495-y