Interview with Adolfo Cuevas

acuevas300x452You recently received a seed grant through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  What is the focus of your new research?

I received the grant to examine the relationship between psychosocial stress and obesity among Latinos/Hispanics. Hispanics have the largest prevalence of overweight/obesity compared to non-Hispanic Whites. We know that overweight/obesity increases the chances of co-morbidity with various chronic and acute illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Stress plays a critical role in that it can contribute to the development of obesity through biological and behavioral pathways. For example, biological responses to stress can directly increase fat accumulation and release appetite hormones that can increase food consumption. Prior studies find that ongoing stressors in important life domains (health, work, and relationships) are associated with a greater likelihood of being obese among Latinos. My colleagues and I proposed to examine three other stressors that have been previously shown to be deleterious to Latino health: ethnic discrimination, acculturative stress, and neighborhood stress. The association between these stressors and obesity has been understudied in the Latino population.

You mention that the role of stress has been understudied. Can you explain the relationship you’ve identified between stress and obesity?

We looked at three specific types of stressors: ethnic discrimination, acculturative stress, and neighborhood stress and their cumulative influence on obesity using data from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, which is the largest health population-based cohort study of Hispanic/Latino populations in the United States. We find that those who reported greater ethnic discrimination were more likely to be obese. We also find that those who reported greater strain when adapting to a new culture were also more likely to be obese. Even after adjusting for physical activity and dietary behaviors, Latinos who scored high on discrimination, acculturative stress, and neighborhood stress were more likely to be obese. We decided to see if these relationships were the same for all heritage groups. We find that discrimination and acculturative stress predicted obesity, but only for Dominicans and Cubans. While our study yielded some interesting results, we have to proceed with caution as there are other important factors that need to be considered, such as length of time in the US and generation status. We are planning on building on this study to investigate these factors further, which could further illuminate complexities in the link between stress and obesity.

What will the study ultimately allow you to do with regard to interventions that prevent chronic and acute illnesses in Hispanic/Latino populations?

These findings allow us to influence interventions in two ways: They help us to develop stress management techniques related to these stressors that can serve as complementary methods to lifestyle modification interventions. They also help us frame the discussion in a socio-ecological perspective, where policies and programs can be developed to help reduce discriminatory practices and ease the process of acculturative adaptation in the United States for Latinos/Hispanics.

Interview and photo by Whitney Waddell