ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan School of Kinesiology researchers studied how discrimination impacts the health of teenagers.
Stress caused by racial discrimination is known to be related to chronic health conditions, but not as much is known about which types of discrimination are most harmful, according to researchers.
Researchers surveyed 100 teens between the ages of 13 and 19 who were obese or overweight and asked about their experiences with institutional, peer, education, and cumulative discrimination.
The teens’ salivary cortisol levels were measured five times a day over a period of three days. Researchers found that teens who experienced racial discrimination from other teens had unhealthy levels of a stress hormone called cortisol. Disruptions in cortisol patterns can lead to unhealthy levels of cortisol in the body, which is connected to many chronic health conditions.
“While it wasn’t the most frequently experienced type of discrimination, it did have the greatest impact,” said Rebecca Hasson, associate professor of movement science and director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory. “When you think about it, that makes a lot of sense because at that age peers are probably the most important relationships.”
Hasson said that some stress is good and our bodies need it, but in healthy people cortisol is highest in the morning. It helps us feel alert and awake. Cortisol falls gradually as the day continues, but stressors can disrupt that pattern. The teens who experienced racial discrimination from peers had cortisol that was lower in the morning and doesn’t fall as much throughout the day.
“That’s when it becomes harmful,” Hasson said. “We know this can lead to increased rates of obesity, Type 2 diabetes risk, anxiety and depression, almost any sort of chronic disease you can think of is negatively impacted by unhealthy cortisol patterns.”
The study found that racial discrimination harmed both Black and white teens.
“The key difference is African American or Black children experience it more frequently,” Hasson said. “A really important point is that racial discrimination is harmful to everyone. We need to strive towards acknowledging everyone’s humanity. Is there a way in which we, as kinesiologists, can harness the power of physical activity to ignite that change?”
The study found that 69% of participants reported exposure to at least one type of racial discrimination, 34% experienced one type,16% experienced two types and 19% experienced three types. The study also found that 57% of Black adolescents reported institutional racial discrimination compared to 27% of white teens, and nearly three times as much perceived stress due to that exposure.
According to the study, Black teens reported roughly twice the perceived stress from cumulative and educational discrimination than white adolescents. Baseline awakening cortisol levels were significantly lower in Black adolescents compared to white adolescents.
Hasson’s lab developed a series of home and classroom physical activity programs called Interrupting Prolonged sitting with Activity (InPACT). The programs are meant to provide children with activity breaks throughout the day. Researchers hope that exercise can help combat the negative health effects of stress and racial discrimination.
“The goal isn’t just to buffer the effects of discrimination, but to develop policies and programs to eliminate it,” Hasson said.