Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Nov;104(11):2147-55.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301420. Epub 2013 Nov 14.

Disparities in diabetes: the nexus of race, poverty, and place

Darrell J Gaskin  1 , Roland J Thorpe Jr, Emma E McGinty, Kelly Bower, Charles Rohde, J Hunter Young, Thomas A LaVeist, Lisa Dubay
Affiliations

Disparities in diabetes: the nexus of race, poverty, and place

Darrell J Gaskin et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We sought to determine the role of neighborhood poverty and racial composition on race disparities in diabetes prevalence.

Methods: We used data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 2000 US Census to estimate the impact of individual race and poverty and neighborhood racial composition and poverty concentration on the odds of having diabetes.

Results: We found a race-poverty-place gradient for diabetes prevalence for Blacks and poor Whites. The odds of having diabetes were higher for Blacks than for Whites. Individual poverty increased the odds of having diabetes for both Whites and Blacks. Living in a poor neighborhood increased the odds of having diabetes for Blacks and poor Whites.

Conclusions: To address race disparities in diabetes, policymakers should address problems created by concentrated poverty (e.g., lack of access to reasonably priced fruits and vegetables, recreational facilities, and health care services; high crime rates; and greater exposures to environmental toxins). Housing and development policies in urban areas should avoid creating high-poverty neighborhoods.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Predicted probabilities of diabetes prevalence by race, poverty, and place category: 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 2000 US Census. Note. These are predicted probabilities with adjustment for age, gender, family history of diabetes, educational attainment, and insurance status.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National diabetes fact sheet: national estimates and general information on diabetes and prediabetes in the United States, 2011. 2011. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/factsheet11.htm. Accessed October 31, 2013.
    1. Elbein SC. Genetics factors contributing to type 2 diabetes across ethnicities. J Diabetes Sci Tech. 2009;3(4):685–689. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schulz AJ, Zenk S, Odoms-Young A et al. Healthy eating and exercising to reduce diabetes: exploring the potential of social determinants of health frameworks within the context of community-based participatory diabetes prevention. Am J Public Health. 2005;95(4):645–651. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ross NA, Gilmour H, Dasgupta K. 14-year diabetes incidence: the role of socio-economic status. Health Rep. 2010;21(3):19–28. - PubMed
    1. Auchincloss AH, Diez Roux AV, Brown DG, Erdmann CA, Bertoni AG. Neighborhood resources for physical activity and healthy foods and their association with insulin resistance. Epidemiology. 2008;19(1):146–157. - PubMed

Publication types