Perceived racial discrimination and eating habits: Systematic review and conceptual models

Abstract

Context: there is no systematic organization of the available evidence about the relationship between racial discrimination and eating habits. Also, there is no consensus about its causal mechanism. Objectives: a systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence on the association between perceived racial discrimination and eating habits (eating behavior and food consumption). A conceptual model was developed to depict the most common mechanisms used to explain this association. Data Sources: articles and dissertations were retrieved from the PubMed, EMBASE, Lilacs, and PsycINFO databases from inception to January 2021. Data Analysis: 19 studies were included. The assessment of methodological quality was conducted using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. On average, the studies showed a methodological quality of 66%. Forty-six associations were evaluated. There were 38 associations between perceived racial discrimination and negative eating habits, 29 concerning eating behavior, and 17 regarding food consumption. Conclusions: perceived racial discrimination negatively affects eating habits. A broader conceptual framework based on ecosocial theory is suggested to guide future research that would include different racial discrimination dimensions, such as internalized and structural.