The determinants of racial disparities in obesity: baseline evidence from a natural experiment

Thomas Durfee; Samuel Myers Jr; Julian Wolfson; Molly DeMarco; Lisa Harnack; Caitlin Caspi

doi:10.1017/age.2021.21

The determinants of racial disparities in obesity: baseline evidence from a natural experiment

Agric Resour Econ Rev. 2021 Dec;50(3):533-558. doi: 10.1017/age.2021.21. Epub 2021 Nov 15.

Authors

Thomas Durfee^{1

2}, Samuel Myers Jr^{1

2}, Julian Wolfson³, Molly DeMarco^{4

5}, Lisa Harnack⁶, Caitlin Caspi^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 270 Humphrey Center, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
² Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, 231 Ruttan Hall, 1994 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108.
³ Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, A460 Mayo Building MMC 303, 425 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.
⁴ Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1700 M.L.K. Jr Blvd #7426, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514.
⁵ Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, UNC-CH, 135 Dauer Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
⁶ Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, Suite 300, University of Minnesota, 1300 South 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN 55454.
⁷ Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut, 1 Constitution Plaza, Hartford, CT, 061032.
⁸ Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, 358 Mansfield Dr., Storrs, CT 06269.

Abstract

This paper uses baseline data from an observational study to estimate the determinants of racial and gender disparities in obesity. Samples of low-income workers in Minneapolis and Raleigh reveal that respondents in Minneapolis have lower Body Mass Indices (BMIs) than respondents in Raleigh. There are large, statistically significant race and gender effects in estimates of BMI that explain most of the disparity between the two cities. Accounting for intersectionality - the joint impacts of being Black and a woman - reveals that almost all the BMI gaps between Black women in Minneapolis and Raleigh can be explained by age and education differences.

Keywords: Body Mass Index (BMI); Food Insecurity; I14 Health and Inequality; J08 Labor Economics Policies; J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Minimum Wage; Racial Disparity.

Abstract

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