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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.080663v1 97/3/526    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Vines, A. I. Articles by McNeilly, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Vines, A. I. Articles by McNeilly, M. Related Collections Other Chronic Disease Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Mental Health African Americans/Blacks Women's Health

Anissa I. Vines, MS, PhD, Donna Day Baird, PhD, June Stevens, PhD, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, PhD, Kathleen C. Light, PhD and Maya McNeilly, PhD

At the time of the study, Anissa I. Vines, June Stevens, and Irva Hertz-Picciotto were with the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Donna D. Baird was with the Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC. Kathleen C. Light was with the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.Maya McNeilly was in private practice in clinical psychology and was also with Duke University, Durham, NC.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Anissa I. Vines, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, CB#7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 (e-mail: avines{at}email.unc.edu).

Objectives. An excess in abdominal fat may predispose African American women to chronic health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Because stress may increase body fat in the center-body region, we used the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) to examine associations between excess abdominal fat and perceived racism (a chronic stressor) and daily stress. Passive emotional responses to perceived racism, hypothesized to have particularly adverse effects, were also examined.

Methods. We controlled for body mass index in multiple logistic regression models among 447 African American women who completed a telephone interview on perceived racism.

Results. Passive emotional responses were not related to WHR (odds ratio [OR]=1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.8, 2.4). High perceived racism was associated with a low WHR in this population (OR=0.4; 95% CI=0.3, 0.8). However, high daily stress was related to a high WHR (OR=2.7; 95% CI=1.1, 6.7).

Conclusions. Findings support an association between daily stress and WHR but do not support our hypothesis that passive emotional responses to perceived racism increase abdominal fat. Further study of the stress physiology of perceived racism in African American women is warranted.

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