Soc. Sci., Volume 13, Issue 6 (June 2024) – 50 articles
Cover Story (view full-size image):
Black women and Latinas have some of the highest body mass indices (BMIs) in the U.S., and they are frequently labeled as “diseased” as a result. However, very few studies have examined racial/ethnic and gender differences in the relationship between elevated BMI and chronic illnesses. We examined the link between BMI and type 2 diabetes (T2D) by race and gender using almost 20-years worth of NHANES data. We found that the association between BMI and diabetes was dramatically weaker for women of color than for white men. More to the point, BMI biomarkers—created based on a white male standard —are so unreliable as predictors of health for women of color that they ironically predicted markedly lower rates of diabetes for women of color compared to white men. This study shows that health outcomes cannot be explained by rates of “obesity” as defined by a white male standard. View this paper
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