SOCIAL INTEGRATION, DISCRIMINATION, AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH BEHAVIORS AMONG U.S. ADULTS

• Published in: Innovation in aging 2018-11, Vol.2 (suppl_1), p.18-18
• Main Authors: Burgard, S, Hauschildt, K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abstracts
• ISSN: 2399-5300; 2399-5300
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.066

While evidence suggests that White Americans use tobacco and alcohol at riskier levels among older U.S. adults, African Americans have shown greater risk in dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. Building on a literature exploring other social determinants, we explore social integration and discrimination experiences as possible mechanisms shaping racial differences in health risk behaviors. We use data from the American’s Changing Lives (ACL) Study, a nationally-representative study of U.S. adults who were over 50 years old when dietary data were collected in 2011. We find that Black Americans have riskier consumption of fruits and vegetables, fried foods, olive oil, and whole grains, while White Americans have riskier consumption of red meat and alcohol use. Net of educational and income differences, variation in social integration and discrimination helps to account for some of the racial variation in health risk behaviors, particularly for fruit and vegetable consumption and olive oil use. We also find that aspects of social integration can have mixed associations with health risk behaviors, such as the association between having a confidant and more favorable olive oil use, but also greater likelihood of risky alcohol use. Similarly, marital status is associated with more favorable olive oil use and physical activity level, and less smoking, but also with greater red meat consumption. Informal integration and church attendance are associated with more favorable profiles, while discrimination and employment show mixed associations. These results suggest that social integration and everyday discrimination may play a role in shaping racial health disparities.