Associations of racial and ethnic discrimination with adverse changes in exercise and screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Tong Xia; Gilbert C. Gee; Jian Li; Xinyue Liu; Jin Dai; Lu Shi; Donglan Zhang; Zhuo Chen; Xuesong Han; Yan Li; Hongmei Li; Ming Wen; Dejun Su; Liwei Chen

doi:10.4178/epih.e2023013

Epidemiology and Health (Jan 2023)

Associations of racial and ethnic discrimination with adverse changes in exercise and screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Tong Xia,
Gilbert C. Gee,
Jian Li,
Xinyue Liu,
Jin Dai,
Lu Shi,
Donglan Zhang,
Zhuo Chen,
Xuesong Han,
Yan Li,
Hongmei Li,
Ming Wen,
Dejun Su,
Liwei Chen

Affiliations

Tong Xia: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Gilbert C. Gee: Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Jian Li: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Xinyue Liu: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Jin Dai: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Lu Shi: Department of Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
Donglan Zhang: Division of Health Services Research, Department of Foundations of Medicine, New York University Long Island School of Medicine, Mineola, NY, USA
Zhuo Chen: Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Xuesong Han: Surveillance and Health Equity Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA
Yan Li: Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Hongmei Li: Department of Media, Journalism and Film, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA
Ming Wen: Department of Sociology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Dejun Su: Department of Health Promotion, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
Liwei Chen: Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2023013
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 45

Abstract

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OBJECTIVES During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a growing prevalence of racial and ethnic discrimination occurred when many Americans struggled to maintain healthy lifestyles. This study investigated the associations of racial and ethnic discrimination with changes in exercise and screen time during the pandemic in the United States. METHODS We included 2,613 adults who self-identified as non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, or Hispanic from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic study, a cross-sectional survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of United States adults between October and November 2020. We assessed self-reported racial and ethnic discrimination by measuring COVID-19-related racial and ethnic bias and examined its associations with changes in exercise and screen time using multivariable logistic regression models. We analyzed data between September 2021 and March 2022. RESULTS COVID-19-related racial and ethnic bias was associated with decreased exercise time among non-Hispanic Asian (odds ratio [OR], 1.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13 to 1.89) and Hispanic people (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.32 to 2.77), and with increased screen time among non-Hispanic Black people (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.33 to 2.85), adjusting for age, sex, education, marital status, annual household income, insurance, and employment status. CONCLUSIONS Racial and ethnic discrimination may have adversely influenced exercise and screen time changes among racial and ethnic minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Further studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms through which racial and ethnic discrimination can impact lifestyles and to develop potential strategies to address racial and ethnic discrimination as a barrier to healthy lifestyles.

Published in Epidemiology and Health

ISSN: 2092-7193 (Online)
Publisher: Korean Society of Epidemiology
Country of publisher: Korea, Republic of
LCC subjects: Medicine
Website: http://www.e-epih.org/

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