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Abstract

<p><b>PURPOSE: </b>Limited research has examined maternal experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination in relation to child cardiometabolic health. In this study, we investigated whether maternal experiences of ethnic discrimination were associated with cardiometabolic risk in Hispanic/Latino youth several years later.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>Our sample included 1146 youth (8-16 years) from the Study of Latino Youth (2012-2014), who were children of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos participants (2008-2011). We used regression models to examine the prospective associations between maternal report of ethnic discrimination in relation to her child's body mass index (BMI) z-score, metabolic syndrome score (MetS), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels 2 years later.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Maternal ethnic discrimination was associated with youth hsCRP, but not BMI or MetS (P-values >.05). Adjusting for age, nativity, and national background, maternal ethnic discrimination was associated with higher (log) hsCRP levels (β = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.32) in children. This association was robust to adjustment for maternal and household characteristics (β = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.31), as well as maternal depression and maternal BMI.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Maternal ethnic discrimination is associated with inflammation among Hispanic/Latino youth, and not BMI z-score or MetS. Studies are needed to address temporality and pathways.</p>

Year of Publication
2019
Journal
Ann Epidemiol
Volume
34
Number of Pages
52-57
Date Published
2019 Jun
ISSN Number
1873-2585
DOI
10.1016/j.annepidem.2019.03.011
Alternate Journal
Ann Epidemiol
PMID
31060896
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