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Children & Young Adults

Youth Who Experience Discrimination Carry Higher Stress Burden

HEALTH BEHAVIOR NEWS SERVICE

People’s beliefs that they are being treated badly because racial or
gender bias increases their stress levels, and may lead to increased
emotional and behavioral problems, according to a study of black and white
youth.

Understanding how race and gender affect youths’ well-being “is
necessary not only for promoting optimal individual development, but also for
meeting the nation’s social and economic needs,” says lead study author
David L. DuBois, Ph.D., of the School of Public Health at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. DuBois conducted the research while at the
University of Missouri, Columbia. Previous studies have focused on older
study participants, but little is known about how younger age groups
are affected by discrimination or prejudice, according to the study,
which is published in the September/October issue of Child Development.

DuBois and his colleagues administered a series of questionnaires to
350 students in grades 5-8. This group of students included comparable
numbers of blacks and whites, females and males. One survey, which
included questions like “Were you called names or insulted at school about
your race/ethnicity” and “Were you treated unfairly at school because you
are a girl/boy,” was designed to measure discriminatory experiences and
how study participants were affected by them, while others measured
major life stressors, racial and gender identity, self-esteem and behavior.

The researchers found significant differences among the student groups.
Black study participants, both males and females, reported more
experiences with discrimination and prejudice. The study setting, a                   Midwestern school district in which blacks were a minority in both                         student body and staff, may have contributed to these higher perceived                     levels, according to the study.

“In this context many black youth may not have felt adequately
supported in their efforts to deal with situations involving perceived
victimization or unfair treatment on the basis of race,” DuBois says.

The black students who reported higher levels of discrimination were
more likely to have emotional problems, the researchers found. Such
problems may stem from internalized anger, according to findings from                      other studies.

The researchers also found that the black participants in their early
teens reported feeling a stronger sense of racial identity than same-age
whites. The new study and previous studies have found that at this age,
blacks tend to have higher self-esteem than whites. DuBois and his
colleagues found that a strong racial identity is important in helping to
enhance the self-esteem of black youth.

Previous study results are mixed as to how a strong racial identity
affects stress coping. Some researchers have found that although
affiliations with racial or gender groups can act as an ego booster, they                      may also be a double-edged sword when brushes with prejudice lead to                  feelings of shame associated with this identity. DuBois and his colleagues                found in their study that experiences of perceived gender discrimination were
linked to less positive feelings of gender identity and lower self-esteem for                 study participants. But other studies have found stressful experiences                   involving race or gender can also strengthen one’s racial or gender identity.

White males reported experiencing less discrimination than blacks and
fewer daily hassles relating to gender than girls did. White boys also
reported having a more positive view of their gender than girls did.
However, they were not immune to gender and race challenges, perhaps
experiencing a sort of “reverse discrimination,” according to the study.

“By early adolescence, white males can be expected to be aware of
criticism of the advantages they enjoy in contemporary society and to be
exposed to situations in which others respond negatively to them on this
basis,” DuBois says.

The researchers noted that black females were a particularly vulnerable
group, as potential recipients of both gender and racial bias. But in
this study, black females did not report higher levels of emotional and
behavioral problems compared with the black males and white
respondents. The researchers suggest that these youth may have been                        bolstered by the strong racial identity and high self-esteem levels reported                        by the black youth study participants.

The research was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental                  Health.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Interviews: Contact Pamela Ippoliti at (312) 996-2139 or
Ippoliti@uic.edu
Child Development: Contact Angela Dahm Mackay at (734) 998-7310 or
admackay@umich.edu.
 

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Overweight Kids May Be at Risk for Diabetes

By Anita Manning, USA TODAY

Up to one-fourth of seriously overweight youngsters may be on the road                         to diabetes, a new study finds.

Researchers at Yale University tested 55 obese children ages 4-10, and                      112 ages 11-18. They found 25% of the younger group and 21% of the             adolescents have a condition called impaired glucose tolerance, a                          higher-than-normal level of blood sugar that often precedes full-blown                   diabetes.

In recent years, the incidence of type 2 diabetes, the form that usually                    occurs in adults, has increased in young people, especially Hispanics,                   blacks and Native Americans. Some regional studies suggest the incidence                   of type 2 in children has jumped from less than 5%, before 1994, to up to 50%.

Type 2 diabetes results from the body's inability to produce enough insulin                     or to use it effectively. In type 1 diabetes, which is caused by the destruction                  of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, no insulin is produced at all.

The children most likely to have impaired glucose tolerance were "far more                obese and far more insulin-resistant" than the other children, says Yale       endocrinologist Sonia Caprio, lead researcher.

"They're in a stage of pre-diabetes," Caprio says, and if they develop diabetes           before age 20 they are at a much higher risk of complications later in life,             including stroke, blindness and amputation.

In the study, reported in [the March 14, 2002 issue of New England Journal              of Medicine], white children were as likely as minorities to have impaired glucose tolerance, the researchers found.

Four of the teens were diagnosed with "silent" type 2 diabetes, which means              they had not developed symptoms, and three of the children progressed to                   full-blown diabetes during the course of the four-year study.

In many cases, says Caprio, diabetes can be headed off.

"Stop the weight gain. It really is time to take it seriously," she says. Children          should be encouraged to eat less, eat better food and exercise more.

"We should not blame the child," Caprio says. "It's really the society. Every one             of us is getting worse."

Related Topic:                                                                                                          Black and Hispanic Children Are more Insulin-Resistant thanWhite Kids, Study Says

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