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Racial/Ethnic Residential Segregation, Obesity, and Diabetes Mellitus

  • Obesity (J McCaffery, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Persistent racial/ethnic disparities in obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus seen in the US are likely due to a combination of social, biological, and environmental factors. A growing number of studies have examined the role of racial/ethnic residential segregation with respect to these outcomes because this macro-level process is believed to be a fundamental cause of many of the factors that contribute to these disparities. This review provides an overview of findings from studies of racial/ethnic residential segregation with obesity and diabetes published between 2013 and 2015. Findings for obesity varied by geographic scale of the segregation measure, gender, ethnicity, and racial identity (among Hispanics/Latinos). Recent studies found no association between racial/ethnic residential segregation and diabetes prevalence, but higher segregation of Blacks was related to higher diabetes mortality. Implications of these recent studies are discussed as well as promising areas of future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 680 N Lake Shore, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Kiarri N. Kershaw

  2. Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 251 E Huron St, Galter Suite 3-150, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Ashley E. Pender

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Kiarri N. Kershaw and Ashley E. Pender declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Kershaw, K.N., Pender, A.E. Racial/Ethnic Residential Segregation, Obesity, and Diabetes Mellitus. Curr Diab Rep 16, 108 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-016-0800-0

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