Acting White: Obesity Disparity Between Black and White Women

A Boston University research team conducted a study that, as reported in the Boston Globe (here), suggests a link between racism and heightened obesity in black women. What? The lead researcher, epidemiologist and BU Assistant Professor Yvette Cozier, was quoted in that article as concluding from the study that ‘racism is real and has real effects”. OK, Yvette, you have my attention.

The only problem is that the study, as published in the Annals of Epidemiology (abstract here), was about perceived racism, and made no attempt to assess the impact of actual racism on obesity factors in black women. So it seems Dr. Cozier pulled the old bait-and-switch in the Globe to get the public to bite on non-existent scientific proof of racism as a cause of obesity.

James Taranto, of the Wall Street Journal, had the following observations. "To begin with, nothing in the study addresses the hypothesis that "racism is real," unless one defines racism solely as a phenomenon within the mind of the putative victim. The study purports to measure the prevalence of perceived racism. It does not test the accuracy of its subjects' perceptions."

Continuing on, Taranto says, "Cozier's assertion that what she baselessly calls racism "has real effects" is equally unwarranted. The study shows a correlation between what it characterizes as "perceived racism" before 1997 and weight gain in the ensuing eight years; it does not establish that the former caused the latter. To our mind it seems much more plausible to posit that the tendency to see oneself as a victim of racism (or to be perturbed by perceived slights, whether racially motivated or not) and the tendency to gain weight arise from a common cause, which one might describe as an attitude of powerlessness or a lack of self-confidence."

I have another idea about the disparity. In their own words, as related to exercise, Black women must exert more time, effort and/or expense on their hair compared to white women. This disparity is real, rather than perceived, and has Black women exercise less and weigh more. I also agree with Taranto that the more powerless one feels the greater the susceptibility to external influence, including the ones extolling the pleasures of fattening foods. So it is reasonable that if black women exercise less (on average) than white women, and eat more, their weight results might differ. Fancy that piece of logic!

Dr. Cozier’s promotional spin on the results of her study, in the Globe, contributes to the perception of racism beyond the (unmeasured) reality, and does a tremendous disservice to the university and her co-researchers, the journal that published her work, and the public that is mislead by her sloppy portrayal of the science. When she comes up for tenure at a later date, she will no doubt be surprised if she fails to promote, but this probability is now greater, as one would expect, after serving us this academic slight-of-hand (assuming the tenure committee notices or cares).

James C. Collier

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