Inequity in Place: Obesity Disparities and the Legacy of Racial Residential Segregation and Social Immobility

Authors: Imari Z. Smith, Loneke T. Blackman Carr, Salimah El-Amin, Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards, and William A. Darity Jr. 

Abstract: Obesity disproportionately affects populations along racial lines. Black and Hispanic adults in the U.S. have disproportionately higher rates of obesity (46.8 percent and 47.0 percent, respectively) compared with whites (37.9 percent) as of 2015-2016, and are subsequently affected more by the direct and indirect costs of obesity. Given the relationships between socioeconomic position and access to resources that help prevent and combat obesity (healthy foods, recreation, and weight management), it is also important to explore the relationships between race, social context, and obesity outcomes. This brief will detail the disparities in obesity, discuss reasons why obesity persists, and highlight the role of segregation and discriminatory practices in creating and sustaining those disparities. Finally, the brief will provide recommendations to improve outcomes for those who bear the deepest burden of the obesity epidemic.

Key Findings

  • Although income does serve as a protective factor against obesity in children, higher income is less protective for black children than it is for white children
  • Other protective factors, including greater educational attainment and social mobility, similarly did less to protect certain groups than others, suggesting that social and structural determinants-e.g. racial discrimination in housing-play a role in these unequal outcomes
  • For example, the prevalence of food deserts (without supermarkets) and food swamps (an abundance fast food restaurants) in predominantly low-income and black neighborhoods contributes to the epidemic
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