Racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity: The role of school segregation

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have observed that racial or ethnic adult health disparities revealed in national data dissipate in racially integrated communities, supporting the theory that “place, not race” shapes the nature and magnitude of racial/ethnic health disparities. We test this theory among children. METHODS: In 2020, we estimated racial/ethnic childhood obesity disparities within integrated schools and between segregated schools, using statewide cross-sectional data collected in 2019 on 5th, 7th, and 9th grade students from California public schools. RESULTS: School segregation accounted for a large part of the obesity disparities between White children and children of color (Latinos, Blacks and Filipinos). In racially integrated schools, obesity disparities were much smaller than those in state-wide data, whereas racial or ethnic childhood obesity disparities were larger when comparing children in majority White schools to those attending schools with majority enrollment of children of color, except for Asians, who generally had lower obesity rates than their White peers. CONCLUSIONS: School-level racial segregation is a salient contributor to racial/ethnic childhood obesity disparities. Reducing obesity disparities may be particularly effective if place-level interventions target socioeconomically disadvantaged integrated schools and segregated schools attended primarily by children of color.