Race, Ethnicity, and Diabetes: Intra-Ethnic Diabetes Disparities

Yumlish: Diabetes and Multicultural Nutrition

In this episode, Dr. Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky discusses intra-ethnic diabetes disparities and how to optimize diabetes risk assessments for diverse populations. She also talks about how immigrant status, ethnicity, and race can influence diabetes risk in populations of African descent.

Dr. Horlyck-Romanovsky is a public health nutrition professional committed to addressing intra-ethnic health disparities among populations of African descent. Her mixed methods research examining intra-ethnic risk profile in New York City, compares risk factors, health behaviors and disease profiles of African Americans, African-born Blacks and Afro-Caribbeans.

“Up until 2017 there was no data on the intra-ethnic differences in the Black population, as everyone was classified as African American, or Black in epidemiological evidence.”

Question of the Day: What will you do to not generalize individuals of African descent?

On this Episode you will Learn:

Intra-ethnic Health Disparities

Systemic Flaws in the US Health and Food Systems

Type 2 Diabetes in Black Immigrants

Diabetes Risk Assessments in African Descent Populations

Connect with Yumlish!

Website

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

YouTube

Connect with Margrethe Horlyck!

Website

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Key Points:

00:00 - Intro with Shireen!

01:36 - How did you get involved in research exploring the intersection of diabetes, race, ethnicity, and acculturation?

5:00 - What are intra-ethnic health disparities? Do intra-ethnic disparities manifest in diabetes? If so, how?

8:20 - What does homogenization of African populations in healthcare research indicate about systemic flaws in the US health and food system? Why should health research disaggregate data on ethnicity and race?

12:00 - In your research in New York City you found that foreign-born Blacks experienced lower odds of obesity, but higher odds of diabetes than US-born blacks. How do you reconcile this increased risk of type 2 diabetes in Black immigrants?

16:23 - African immigrants have a higher risk of diabetes at lower BMI, a different waist circumference cut-off and a younger age than African Americans. If diabetes risk assessments are not optimized to detect diabetes in African descent populations, what can be done?

20:54 - How can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?

22:33 - Outro with Shireen!

--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yumlish/message