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Background The overweight/obesity epidemic is a public health issue in the United States (US), that disproportionately affect certain racial/ethnic minority groups. Perceived discrimination has been implicated as a health risk factor. However, research on race/ethnicity, perceived discrimination, and obesity has been mixed. Researchers suggest that perceptions of discrimination may be dependent upon nativity status. This study evaluated the role that nativity status and race/ethnicity play in the relationship between perceived discrimination and overweight/obesity. Methods We used Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (2004–2005) [ N  = 33,319]). Multinomial logistic regression assessed a three-way interaction (perceived discrimination × race/ethnicity × nativity) on overweight and obesity, adjusting for sociodemographic factors and health-related behaviors. Results The three-way interaction was significant for overweight [F (17, 49) = 3.35; p  < 0.001] and obesity [F (17, 49) = 5.05; p  < 0.001]. Among US-born individuals, US-born non-Hispanic Blacks had a decreased risk of being obese compared to US-born non-Hispanic Whites at mean levels of perceived discrimination [aRRR = 0.71; 95% CI (0.51–0.98); p  = 0.04). Among foreign-born individuals, foreign-born South Americans had an increased risk of being overweight at mean levels of perceived discrimination compared to foreign-born non-Hispanic Whites [aRRR = 8.07; 95% CI (1.68–38.77); p  = 0.01], whereas foreign-born Dominicans had a decreased risk of being obese compared to foreign-born non-Hispanic Whites [aRRR = 0.05; 95% CI (0.01–0.20); p  < 0.001]. Conclusion Perceived racial discrimination is a risk factor for overweight/obesity for certain groups. Race/ethnicity and nativity may play important roles in the relationship between perceived discrimination and overweight/obesity. Future research is needed to identify the behavioral and psychological pathways that link perceived discrimination and overweight/obesity.

Objective To quantify the association between attributional ambiguity–the uncertainty of whether an experience is discrimination–and mental health. Methods Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults recruited through an online survey by Ipsos (April 23 and May 3, 2021), attributional ambiguity was quantified by asking participants if they experienced anything in the past 6 months that they were unsure was discrimination. The survey also assessed the degree to which these experiences caused participants to feel bothered and to ruminate on them. Multiple linear regression models were used to analyze associations between attributional ambiguity and depressive symptoms and mental health status. Results Black and Hispanic participants reported higher rates of attributional ambiguity than White participants. Experiencing attributional ambiguity was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and poorer self-reported mental health status. Among those who reported attributional ambiguity, increases in bother and rumination scores were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusion Attributional ambiguity is an important yet overlooked social determinant of mental health. More research is needed to fully understand the impact of this stressor on population health, particularly among minoritized populations.

We examined 22 articles to compare Black Latinos/as’ with White Latinos/as’ health and highlight findings and limitations in the literature. We searched 1153 abstracts, from the earliest on record to those available in 2016. We organized the articles into domains grounded on a framework that incorporates the effects of race on Latinos/as’ health and well-being: health and well-being, immigration, psychosocial factors, and contextual factors. Most studies in this area are limited by self-reported measures of health status, inconsistent use of race and skin color measures, and omission of a wider range of immigration-related and contextual factors. We give recommendations for future research to explain the complexity in the Latino/a population regarding race, and we provide insight into Black Latinos/as experiences.

The Hispanic/Latino population is the largest minority group in the USA. Research has documented health disadvantages of undocumented Latinos/Hispanics compared to their documented counterparts. The economic and social conditions that influence immigrant health may operate differently for undocumented immigrants compared to their documented counterparts. Access to healthcare, access to health-protective resources (social, economic, and political contributors), and immigration enforcement actions are three mechanisms that affect immigrants and contribute to the social and health inequities within the Latino/Hispanic population. We argue that social factors within these three mechanisms distinctly affect undocumented immigrants. We discuss these factors by synthesizing the existing literature on documentation status and health. In doing so, we highlight opportunities for future research and provide recommendations for policies and interventions that can ease the taxing effects of documentation status on health among Latinos/Hispanics.

Purpose To quantify the associations between perceived racial discrimination over the life course and financial stress. Methods The data are from the 2023 Survey of Racism and Public Health, a cross-sectional survey of adults. We employed mixed-effects linear models with zip code-level random effects adjusted for covariates. Results There were 4952 participants, with an average age of 46.8 years. The participants identified as follows: 2366 (48%) as White, 865 (17%) as Black, and 711 (14%) as Hispanic. The overall average financial stress index score was 40.1 (SD = 11.6); multiracial participants reported the highest average financial stress score, at 44.2 (SD = 12.3). On average, Black participants reported the highest perceived discrimination scores across the life course: child and teen (mean = 2.5, SD = 1.1), adult (mean = 2.6, SD = 1.1), and past year (mean = 2.2, SD = 1.1). Higher perceived discrimination was associated with financial stress in each window, and adulthood (b = 2.6, 95% CI 2.3, 2.9) has a larger association magnitude than in childhood (b = 2.2, 95% CI 2.0, 2.5) and the past year (b = 2.3, 95% CI 2.0, 2.6). Conclusions These findings suggest that perceived discrimination at all life stages is associated with financial stress, and its effects during adulthood may appear slightly larger compared to those during childhood and the past year.

BackgroundUpon reintegration into society, formerly incarcerated individuals (FIIs) experience chronic financial stress due to prolonged unemployment, strained social relationships, and financial obligations. This study examined whether marriage and perceived social status can mitigate financial stress, which is deleterious to the well-being of FIIs. We also assessed whether sociodemographic factors influenced financial stress across marital status. We used cross-sectional data from 588 FIIs, collected in the 2023 Survey of Racism and Public Health. The financial stress outcome (Cronbach’s α = 0.86) comprised of five constructs: psychological distress, financial anxiety, job insecurity, life satisfaction, and financial well-being. Independent variables included marital and social status, age, race/ethnicity, gender identity, educational attainment, employment status, and number of dependents. Multivariable models tested whether financial stress levels differed by marital and perceived social status (individual and interaction effects). Stratified multivariable models assessed whether social status and sociodemographic associations varied by marital status.ResultsWe found that being married/living with a partner (M/LWP, b = -5.2) or having higher social status (b = -2.4) were protective against financial stress. Additionally, the social status effect was more protective among divorced, separated, or widowed participants (b = -2.5) compared to never married (NM, b = -2.2) and M/LWP (b = -1.7) participants. Lower financial stress correlated with Black race and older age, with the age effect being more pronounced among M/LWP participants (b = -9.7) compared to NM participants (b = -7.3). Higher financial stress was associated with woman gender identity (overall sample b = 2.9, NM sample b = 5.1), higher education (M/LWP sample b = 4.4), and having two or more dependents (overall sample b = 2.3, M/LWP sample b = 3.4).ConclusionsWe provide novel insights into the interrelationship between marriage, perceived social status, and financial stress among FIIs. Our findings indicate the need for policies and programs which may target the family unit, and not only the individual, to help alleviate the financial burden of FIIs. Finally, programs that offer legal aid to assist in expungement or sealing of criminal records or those offering opportunities for community volunteer work in exchange for vouchers specific to legal debt among FIIs could serve to reduce financial stress and improve social standing.

Introduction: Exposure to discrimination has emerged as a risk factor for obesity. It remains unclear, however, whether the genotype of the individual can modulate the sensitivity or response to discrimination exposure (gene × environment interaction) or increase the likelihood of experiencing discrimination (gene-environment correlation). Methods: This was an observational study of 4,102 white/European Americans in the Health and Retirement Study with self-reported, biological assessments, and genotyped data from 2006 to 2014. Discrimination was operationalized using the average of nine Everyday Discrimination Scale items. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were calculated using the weighted sum of risk alleles based on studies conducted by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium. Results: We found that greater PRS-BMI was significantly associated with more reports of discrimination (β = 0.04 ± 0.02; p = 0.037). Further analysis showed that measured BMI partially mediated the association between PRS-BMI and discrimination. There was no evidence that the association between discrimination and BMI, or the association between discrimination and WC, differed by PRS-BMI or PRS-WC, respectively. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that individuals with genetic liability for obesity may experience greater discrimination in their lifetime, consistent with a gene-environment correlation hypothesis. There was no evidence of a gene-environment interaction. More genome-wide association studies in diverse populations are needed to improve generalizability of study findings. In the meantime, prevention and clinical intervention efforts that seek to reduce exposure to all forms of discrimination may help reduce obesity at the population level.

Racism perpetuates the unequal distribution of power, resources, and privilege within and between societies to the detriment of marginalized groups. Racialization involves categorizing people based on traits to which socially constructed meaning and value have been ascribed. In public health, this process can manifest when tracking racial health disparities in children, which requires aggregating parent-reported race and ethnicity data into federally recognized categories. The demographic surveys used to characterize children's identity in the United States mirror those administered in adults and typically follow federal race and ethnicity data standards, which include ambiguous response options (eg, other race), \"select all that apply\" directives, and open-ended fields followed by a request specification, with limited guidance for coding and interpretation. These methodological challenges could contribute to nonrandom data missingness and misclassification bias and must be resolved to better harmonize historic data, especially given recent revisions to the country's federal race and ethnicity data standards. We aimed to explore the prevalence of systematic bias within past, current, and recently revised federal race and ethnicity data standards in the United States and develop a standardized method for improving the reporting of child race and ethnicity in public health research, policy, and practice. We developed a replicable decision-making process to uncover racial heterogeneity obscured by key components of US federal race and ethnicity data standards (open-ended and ambiguous response fields). We applied it to a pooled sample of 8 community-based child health studies with 8087 participants and examined changes in the dataset's racial and ethnic diversity. Overall, 93.11% (7530/8087) of parents provided child race and ethnicity data, with 3.73% (281/7530) identified as other race and 9.72% (732/7530) identified as multiracial. In total, 101 distinct open-ended written responses (eg, \"Haitian\") were provided. The replicable decision-making process resulted in 4.02% (303/7530) of children being reallocated from their parent-reported race or ethnicity category, of whom 38.6% (117/303) were moved into the Black category based on written responses. Within the multiracial group, we identified 22 unique combinations, including White-Hispanic (269/732, 36.7%) and White-Black (169/732, 23.08%). These findings demonstrate how the current paradigm of assessing race and ethnicity in the United States may contribute to the erasure and further marginalization of individuals disproportionately enduring the effects of racism. While updated federal race and ethnicity data standards may soon take effect, persistent gaps in demographic and health surveillance will remain. Our data reallocation decision-making process offers a novel and practical framework for harmonizing race and ethnicity data across time, populations, and datasets, emphasizing the relevance and longevity of preexisting datasets and tools. Efforts to build equitable public health surveillance and data systems should expand the survey response options, avoid aggregating diverse populations, and develop new statistical techniques for data analysis.

Background The burden of obesity and chronic disease is increasing in the older US Hispanic/Latino adult population. There is limited evidence on successful weight management strategies as perceived by this population. Assessing barriers and opportunities for weight management using mixed methods is a robust approach to collect in‐depth information that can be applied to the development of well‐tailored weight management interventions for this population. Objective The objective of this study was to assess perceived individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors that influence weight management in older Hispanic/Latino adults. Methods This community‐based cross‐sectional study included 23 Hispanic/Latino older (>50y) adults with obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2). Perceived barriers and opportunities for weight management were assessed through validated questionnaires and focus groups. Prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03978416) on 7 June 2019. Results In this demographically heterogeneous population, language acculturation was generally low, and the frequency of poor dietary behaviors was high. Participants linked financial strain to lower diet quality, as well as anxiety to uncontrolled eating and food cravings. Social support and trust in healthcare professionals were perceived as priorities for healthy eating. Structural and environmental barriers such as affordability and availability of culturally preferred foods were also identified as influences on food choices and eating behavior. Conclusions This study revealed opportunities for culturally tailored weight management interventions in older Hispanic/Latino adults with obesity. Clinical Trial Registry Number NCT03978416 (ClinicalTrials.gov)

In 2022, government spending on SNAP totaled $119.4 billion, assisting 41.2 million Americans each month (more than 40% of whom were children).? Because the harms of food insecurity have devastating lifelong effects, prevention must remain a central goal of public health. [...]SNAP participants purchase and consume healthier foods immediately after receiving monthly benefits than later in the same cycle, indicating that increased frequency and value of benefits could improve diet quality more ethically and efficiently than item restrictions.13 Supporters of adding diet quality as a core objective and restricting purchases in SNAP may also suggest that the lack of nutritional standards in the program causes obesity disparities among children and adults. [...]SNAP reduces medical spending and increases health care access. Adults with very low food security are more than 40% as likely as others to develop hypertension, coronary heart disease, and other cardiovascular diseases.18 SNAP reduces the risk of very low food security by roughly 20% and is one of the only safeguards against poverty in the United States; only approximately 4% of SNAP households without children and 10% of SNAP households with children receive cash welfare benefits from the government.19 By successfully improving food security, the structure of SNAP buffers against the harmful effects of poverty and hunger on health.17 Proponents of restrictions argue that SNAP should be modeled after WIC to improve population health.