A Huffington Post news story about the negative health risks of racism cites a UGA and Emory University study that found ways to combat those risks.
According to the article, racial discrimination can raise blood pressure, release stress hormones and lead to weight gain. However, the UGA/Emory study found that teens with strong social support were not as strongly affected by discrimination as those with low levels of social support.
Gene Brody, Regents Professor of Child and Family Development and director of UGA’s Center for Family Research, was quoted in the article explaining the effects of social support. Brody was a researcher for the study.
“These kinds of relationships can be a protective barrier from stress-changing biology,” Brody said.
