Risky sexual behavior: a race-specific social consequence of obesity.

Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents' sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Young Adult Survey in 2000 or 2002. Nearly even numbers of these participants identified as white and black (183 and 157, respectively). We find that compared to their non-obese white peers, obese white adolescent girls exhibit higher rates of multiple sex partners and sex with older partners, and are also less likely to use condoms. None of these factors are significantly related to high BMI within the black sample. These findings indicate that the negative social consequences of obesity extend beyond future economic and marriage outcomes to adolescent white women's sexual outcomes. They also highlight the importance of context: the implications of being obese during adolescence depend on cultural meanings of obesity.

Black mothers' perceptions about urban neighborhood safety and outdoor play for their preadolescent daughters.

Using narratives of single low-income Black mothers with preadolescent children in a high-crime neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, this study aims (1) to understand if and how neighborhood safety influences mothers' decisions about allowing their daughters to play outdoors and (2) to identify what neighborhood changes would need to occur to alter their perceptions about safety. Mothers reported that unpredictable violence, related to drug and gang activity of neighbors, and the absence of safe play areas in their neighborhood led them to sequester their daughters indoors. Hostile neighborhood conditions contributed to children's physical inactivity and put girls at risk for obesity.

Increasing research literacy in minority communities: CARES fellows training program.

The community alliance for Research Empowering Social Change (CARES) is an academic-community research partnership designed to: (1) train community members about evidence based public health, (2) increase community members' scientific literacy, and (3) develop the infrastructure for community-based participatory research so that local stakeholders can examine and address racial/ethnic health disparities in their communities. Nineteen community members enrolled in the CARES training. The training consisted of 11 didactic training sessions and 4 experiential workshops, taught by a multidisciplinary faculty from research institutions. Results suggest that the training increased research literacy, prepared community members for collaborative work with academic researchers, and empowered them to utilize scientific research methods to create social change in their communities.