Factors related to obesity and overweight among Black adolescent girls in the United States

Abstract

In the United States, Black adolescents have the highest prevalence of pediatric obesity and overweight among girls. While Black girls are disproportionately affected, the reasons for this health disparity remain unclear. The authors conducted a systematic review to investigate the factors related to obesity and overweight among Black adolescent girls. The authors searched four databases for relevant English-language publications using all publication years through 2015. Fifty-one studies met the inclusion criteria and were used for this review. Using a configuration approach to synthesis, three categories were identified, paralleling the bioecological theory of human development: (1) individual, (2) interpersonal, and (3) community and societal factors. A description of each factor’s association with obesity among Black adolescent girls is presented. From this review, the authors identified a diverse and vast set of individual, interpersonal, and community and societal factors explored for their relationship with obesity and overweight. Given the insufficient repetition and limited significant findings among most factors, the authors believe that multiple gaps in knowledge exist across all categories regarding the factors related to obesity and over-weight among Black adolescent girls. To improve the quality of research in this area, suggested research directions and methodological recommendations are provided.

Listen to Black Women: Do Black Feminist and Womanist Health Policy Analyses

“…Black girls' and women's health is pathologized in a way that rarely addresses the structural determinants of health, such as gendered racism, which can influence health, health care interactions, delivery, access, and care. With more than 40% of Black teen girls and more than 80% of Black women being diagnosed with overweight or obesity, they make up the largest percentage of children and adults dealing with this epidemic, respectively (Winkler, Bennett, & Brandon, 2016). The increased consumption of calories and lack of exercise accumulating evidence suggests that obesity is strongly associated with prolonged and excessive activation of the stress system (Cortese, Comencini, Vincenzi, Speranza, & Angriman, 2013).…”

Views of Black women patients with obesity on desired and undesired weight‐focused clinical encounters

“…Yet, 20% of participants said they had not engaged in weight‐related discussions with their doctor in the past year. While most interventions to address overweight and obesity in Black women have not demonstrated success, 6 a personalized approach focusing on individual variability may advance the understanding of some of the major factors contributing to overweight and obesity in Black women and lead to new strategies to improve health care outcomes 23 …”

“…Yet, 20% of participants said they had not engaged in weight-related discussions with their doctor in the past year. While most interventions to address overweight and obesity in Black women have not demonstrated success, 6 a personalized approach focusing on individual variability may advance the understanding of some of the major factors contributing to overweight and obesity in Black women and lead to new strategies to improve health care outcomes. 23 Interventions to address overweight and obesity in non-Hispanic Black women must focus on modifiable psychological and knowledge variables that may empower these individuals to engage in weight loss and weight maintenance under whatever conditions that may exist in their lives.…”

“…4 To date, few interventions to address overweight and obesity in non-Hispanic Black adults have yielded meaningful results. 5,6 The persistence of overweight and obesity in Black women suggests that the strategies employed thus far may not be effective.…”

Using Black Feminist Theory and Methods to Uncover Best Practices in Health Promotion Programming

“…Health promotion programming for Black American women and girls, especially programming addressing overweight and obesity, remains an urgent, understudied area of research (Beech & Jernigan, 2014; Kumanyika et al, 2014; Whitt-Glover, 2014; Winkler et al, 2017). Recent studies in the field support a more integrated, holistic approach to such programming (Carson et al, 2014; Winkler et al, 2017). One emerging aspect of this approach is a questioning of weight and BMI score as predominant measures of success.…”