Abstract P574: Does Being Multiracial Matter for Chronic Disease? An Evaluation of Differences in Obesity by Multiracial Subgroups in the U.S

The multiracial population is considered the fasted growing population in the United States. In 2020, the percentage of people who reported multiples races changed more than all of the single race groups, increasing from 2.9% of the population (9 million people) in 2010 to 10.2% of the population (33.8 million) in 2020. Each multiracial subgroup has unique social and political histories that may lead to distinct social perceptions, economic situations, and health outcomes. We hypothesized that there is a multiracial distinction in the prevalence of obesity. On average multiracial respondents will have better or worse than both single-race component groups. We assessed whether the patterns of obesity of adults who identify as multiracial are distinctive from that of adults who identify a single-race identity, by using a three-year (2010-2012) pooled sample of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We further investigate whether the prevalence of obesity in multiracial versus single-race individuals differ among Hispanic and non-Hispanic subgroups. Results show that categorizing all multiracial individuals into one group masks the different patterns of obesity within multiracial individuals. White-Black, White-Asian, White-Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI), and White-American Indian adults have a prevalence of obesity in between their single-race counterparts (Figure 1, Panel A). Among Hispanics, the prevalence of obesity in White-Black and Black-America Indian adults is lower than the same categories among non-Hispanics (Figure 1, Panel B). Whereas the prevalence of obesity in White-NHPII and Asian NHPI is higher than the same categories among non-Hispanics. This study helps us address aspects of the social construction of race and the complexity in evaluation of obesity prevalence. Findings raise further questions about the usage of a homogenous multiple race categorization in national surveys.