The main cause of obesity is overeating. However, not many people know the causes of overeating; one major cause is ‘socioeconomic stress’. Blacks are the most stressed population in the U.S. Just living under the stressor of racism alone takes a tremendous psychological toll on so many Black people.
In her book, ‘Environmental Stress and African-Americans’, author Grace Carroll states that race is brought to the consciousness of African Americans every day through interaction with employers, service providers, landlords, the police, and the media.
She says the stress experienced by Blacks merely as a result of being African American causes micro-aggressions that include experiences such as being denied service, being falsely accused, being negatively singled out on account of one's race.
Carroll labels the stress that results from such micro-aggressions as Mundane Extreme Environmental Stress (MEES) - which she says is a daily experience, has a significant impact on one's psychological well being and world view, is environmentally induced, and is detracting and energy consuming.
Arline Geronimus a professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan echoes Carroll by stating the stress of living and working in a race conscious society slowly wears down Black people from all walks of life.
From Geronimus perspective racist stress, coupled with poverty, eventually erodes Blacks mental and physical health, a gradual process that she calls ‘weathering’. This daily weathering results in depression, substance abuse, suicide, strained relationships, and frustration that leads to misplaced Black-on-Black violence.
Living under much strain Blacks tend to eat comfort foods high in fats and sugars to ease the pain of stress. Black obesity is driven by stressful emotion based reactive eating and an addiction to comfort foods. Stress can make you feel hungry even though you just ate. Because of this reason Blacks tend to eat more portions and obesity continues to rise.
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