Pancreatic beta-cells have the ability to increase insulin secretion (via AIRG) in response to insulin resistance. This nonlinear hyperbolic relationship between sensitivity and secretion is best described as DI [25, 32]. Hence, higher AIRG and DI typically represent an ability to compensate for insulin resistance in order to maintain normal glucose tolerance (i.e., lower diabetes risk). In contrast, lower AIRG and DI represent an inability of the pancreas to secrete enough insulin at a given level of insulin resistance where impaired glucose tolerance may arise (i.e., higher diabetes risk). Indeed, our laboratory has shown both increased AIRG and DI as potential compensatory mechanisms for decreased SI in minority children and adolescents [3, 27]. The underlying determinants that contribute to increased insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction in overweight/obese African-American and Latino-American
children and adolescents are unknown; however sociocul- tural and socioeconomic factors each play a unique role in shaping diabetes risk in ethnic minorities. In the present analysis, the sociocultural adaptive style of combining aspects of both mainstream white-American culture while retaining aspects of their own family’s culture was negatively associ- ated with type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese African- American children and adolescents (as reflected by higher AIRG and DI). These relationships remained significant after adjusting for household social position and other behav- ioral and biological covariates. In contrast, household social position was positively associated with type 2 diabetes risk in Latino-American children and adolescents (via decreased AIRG and DI). Taken together, these findings suggest that sociocultural factors may be important predictors of type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese African-American children and adolescents whereas socioeconomic factors, rather than culture, may be more important for Latino-Americans.
African-Americans are a heterogeneous ethnic group who vary in the extent to which they both retain their black- American culture and also adopt aspects of white-American culture [33]. Previous research on adults has documented the relevance of these adaptive cultural styles to health and health-related behaviors in African-American adults [10, 34]. Dressler et al. [34] reported African-Americans living in accordance with culturally constructed local com- munity norms—or “cultural consonance” in lifestyle—were a stronger independent predictor of smoking and hyper- tension than were indicators of socioeconomic position (i.e., occupation, income and education). Airhihenbuwa et al. [10] reported that positive identification with African- American culture and a self-perception of being successful in both the “black” and “white” ways of life were associated with healthy behaviors, including reduced fat consumption, more participation in leisure-time physical activity, reduced smoking, and, in women only, reduced alcohol consumption. Our results are generally consistent with these findings and suggest that the protective health effects of integrating two cultures also extend to overweight/obese African-American children and adolescents at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. In essence, integrating aspects of both black-American and white-American cultures was associated with lower diabetes risk (via increased AIRG and DI), independent of household social position, physical activity, sedentary time, dietary intake, sex, Tanner stage, and fat/fat-free mass.
An association between culture and type 2 diabetes risk, independent of physical activity and diet, is plausible, given what is known about the physiological mechanisms linking psychosocial stress to insulin resistance and subsequent type 2 diabetes risk via hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation [35, 36]. In general, integration of two or more cultures is viewed as a less stressful, more adaptive process, because this orientation allows ethnic minorities to function effectively in a multicultural society while still maintaining supportive connections to their own family’s culture [37]. Hence, integration may be associated with lower psycholog- ical stress in African-Americans, thereby influencing type 2 diabetes risk independent of physical activity and diet. Additional research is needed to better understand the associations between integration, psychological stress, and diabetes risk in this ethnic minority group.
Many more researchers have investigated the influence of sociocultural factors on diabetes risk in Latino-Americans [12]. The influence of culture on behavior and subsequent diabetes risk is inconsistent [18] and may be confounded by socioeconomic position [19]. In the present study, household social position, not sociocultural orientation, was positively associated with type 2 diabetes risk in Latino-American children and adolescents. This relationship remained sig- nificant after controlling for biological and behavioral fac- tors. Moreover, post hoc analyses revealed that, of the two socioeconomic indicators measured (educational attainment and occupational rank), parental education was driving the
relationship between household social position and diabetes risk.
A protective effect of socioeconomic position and edu- cational attainment in particular on type 2 diabetes risk has been well established among adults and non-Latino whites [21]; however, in the present study, this relationship was not present in either ethnic group. The rationale for the absent relationship in African-Americans and paradoxical relation- ship in Latino-Americans is unclear. Nevertheless similar findings have been previously reported between socioeco- nomic position and other metabolic outcomes in minority children and adolescents [38]. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and National Health Interview Survey, Sobal and Stunkard [38] reported that ethnic minority children from higher socioeconomic households were just as likely to be overweight and obese as compared to children residing in lower socioeconomic households. These findings taken together with those in the present study suggest that residing in higher socioeconomic households may not be protective against obesity and sub- sequent type 2 diabetes risk in ethnic minority children and adolescents as has been previously reported in non-Latino whites. Moreover, parental education may be a stronger independent predictor of type 2 diabetes risk than culture in Latino-Americans; additional research is warranted.
Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, data limitations precluded analysis of other factors known to influence diabetes risk in this analysis including genetic admixture [39], smoking status and alcohol consumption [40], social desirability [41], and self-reported psychological stress [42]. Similarly, proxy indicators of acculturation such as language use, nativity, and time in the US were not available for our participants [14]. Second, although prior research suggests that household social position and sociocultural orientation are predictors rather than consequences of dia- betes risk [10, 21, 34], the cross-sectional nature of this study impeded our ability to make causal inferences. Third, these findings in a small sample of overweight/obese African- American and Latino-American children and adolescents living in the Greater Los Angeles area cannot necessarily be generalized to all adolescents living in the US. Finally, post hoc power calculations revealed that some of our analyses were underpowered given the large variability in FSIGT-derived insulin and glucose indices. Despite being underpowered, we were able to detect significant associations between the AHIMSA subscale integration, AIRG, and DI in African-Americans as well as significant associations between household social position, AIRG, and DI in Latino- Americans. Thus, our findings may be an underestimation of the true effect of sociocultural orientation and household social position on type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese African-American and Latino-American children and ado- lescents. Nevertheless, additional research examining these relationships in a larger, more homogenous sample may better elucidate the role of sociocultural and socioeconomic factors in shaping type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese ethnic minority pediatric populations.
In summary, sociocultural orientation and household social position appear to play distinct and opposing roles in type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese African-American and Latino-American children and adolescents. For African- Americans, maintaining a sense of their own family’s culture while integrating into mainstream white-American society was independently associated with decreased diabetes risk (as represented by increased AIRG and DI). For Latino- Americans, increased diabetes risk was independently asso- ciated with increased household social position, higher parental education in particular, via decreased AIRG and DI. Future research should continue to examine these factors over time to better understand the relationships between the sociocultural orientation, household social position, and type 2 diabetes risk in overweight/obese African-American and Latino-American children and adolescents. Moreover, behavioral interventions and public policies are needed to better address sociocultural and socioeconomic factors asso- ciated with type 2 diabetes risk in ethnic minority pediatric populations.