Neighborhood environments have been linked to a wide variety of health outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the degree to which neighborhood factors account for well-documented race differences in health. Two recent studies led by Dr. Fuller-Rowell, an Associate Professor in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University, begin to address this knowledge gap.

The first study used data from the MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) Study to examine the degree to which census tract measures of neighborhood disadvantage account for well documented racial disparities in sleep problems. Census tracts are relatively small subdivisions of a county that contain between 2,500 and 8000 households. Various characteristics of the census tract such as average income and percent poverty were averaged together to capture neighborhood disadvantage. Sleep was assessed from objective data collected by a device worn on the wrist, similar to a fit bit. Results of the study indicated that Black participants tended to have poorer sleep than Whites, but that a substantial portion of this race difference was accounted for by neighborhood disadvantage. A full description of the results is available here.

Another recent study focused again on the role of neighborhoods in racial health disparities, but instead of examining sleep in adults, the study examined blood pressure in young, at-risk children. Data from this study were from the Infant Health and Development Project, a large national study of children who were born low birth weight. Blood pressure in young children is a risk factor for hypertension later in life and therefore is an important considering when consider possible mechanisms for racial disparities. The results of this study showed disparities in blood pressure between Black and White children widened between ages 2 and 6, and that a portion of this race difference was explained by census tract measures of neighborhood disadvantage (see manuscript for further details).

These are among the first studies to document that that race differences in objectively measured health outcomes are partly accounted for by neighborhood disadvantage. Results therefore indicate that, with respect to racial disparities, neighborhoods are a consequential factor. The findings also converge with other studies of neighborhood influences on health to underscore that racial differences in neighborhood environments must be viewed as essential for addressing and mitigating racial health disparities.