Young African-American women who live in fear of the violence in their neighborhoods are more likely to become obese when they reach their 20s and 30s, new research from the University of Michigan shows.
The community-based study in Flint, Mich., reveals that African-American girls who express fear about their violent surroundings at age 15 experienced a larger increase in body mass index from ages 21 to 32, the U-M School of Public Health researchers found.
Among the 681 young men and women followed for 18 years, there was no tendency toward obesity when either gender was asked about being the victims of or witnesses to crime.
“The health deteriorating effect of neighborhood crime is not limited to those who are physically beaten, battered or shot. The effect is far beyond a direct physical effect and extends to any individual who perceives the fear,” said lead author Dr. Shervin Assari, research investigator in the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health in the U-M School of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry. “Chronic anxiety due to fear from living in a high crime neighborhood is taking its toll on Flint residents.”
[For more of this story go to http://www.aspph.org/michigan-...or-some-young-women/]
Comments (0)