Expressing Disempowering Realities Through the Body: An Embodiment Approach to Disordered Eating in Black and African American Women
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Date
2024-01-09
Authors
Osa, Maggie
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Disordered eating (DE) among Black women in the United States (U.S.) has increased over the past decade. Although theories of DE have predominantly focused on the drive for thinness, these frameworks fail to demonstrate the same predictive validity among Black women. Embodiment, which reflects the experience of living in one’s body, offers a novel framework for examining DE among Black women by considering the roles of disempowering social experiences (e.g., discrimination) in shaping how one connects to and cares for their body. The current study examined the associations among food insecurity, exposure to traumatic events, discrimination distress, embodiment, and DE (i.e., global symptoms, binge eating, and unhealthy weight control practices). It was hypothesized that food insecurity, traumatic events, and discrimination distress would be collectively significantly associated with both embodiment and DE. It was also hypothesized that embodiment would be significantly negatively associated with DE after adjusting for food insecurity, traumatic events, and discrimination distress. Black women 18 to 40 years old in the U.S. (N = 99; Mage= 27.77 5.17 years) completed an online survey comprising measures of food insecurity, traumatic events, discrimination distress, embodiment, and DE.
Multiple regression models revealed that food insecurity, traumatic events, and discrimination distress were collectively significantly associated with embodiment (p < .001) and global DE (p < .001). Zero-inflated negative binomial models demonstrated improved model fit compared to the intercept-only models for binge eating (BF = 1.63) and unhealthy weight control practices (BF = 146 x 104). Considering individual variable contributions, exposure to traumatic events was significantly positively associated with global DE and likelihood of binge eating; food insecurity was significantly negatively associated with global DE; and discrimination distress was not significantly related to any DE constructs (ps = .137-.620). After adjusting for food insecurity, traumatic events, and discrimination distress, embodiment was significantly negatively associated with global DE (p < .001), the likelihood of binge eating (p =.01), and unhealthy weight control practices (p =.03).
Results suggest that disempowering social experiences are relevant to Black women’s DE, and embodiment may provide a valuable theoretical perspective for understanding DE in Black women.
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Keywords
black, disordered eating, eating disorders, marginalization, oppression, racism