A Case of Double Jeopardy in the Obesity Epidemic

Annie C. Lee, University of California, Los Angeles

As a result of the rapid prevalence of overweight and obesity experienced nationwide in the past three decades, substantial research has been devoted to understanding the nuanced social mechanisms by which obesity disproportionately impacts sub-populations of the U.S. However, the health implications stratified by class of obesity, especially in its most extreme construct, remains a rather unexplored epidemiologic challenge. The framework behind this study is the theory of double jeopardy, which contends that being minority status in addition to being older acts as “multiple hazards” to one’s health particularly in their later years. Using data from NHANES, logistic regression and predicted probability model results suggest that the interaction of African American and Mexican and obesity yields elevated risks for hypertension compared to obese Whites. Furthermore, older African Americans and older Mexicans exhibit extremely steep probabilities for hypertension compared to older Whites, thus warranting the double jeopardy hypothesis.