Neighborhood Racial Diversity and Metabolic Syndrome: Findings from 2003-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

This study investigated the independent association between neighborhood racial/ethnic diversity and metabolic syndrome in the United States, and focused on how individual and neighborhood characteristics (i.e., sex, age, urbanicity, neighborhood poverty) moderated this association. Individual-level data from 2003-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were linked to census-tract profiles from 2000 decennial census. Stratified multilevel random intercept logistic regression models were estimated to examine the contextual effects of tract-level racial/ethnic diversity on individual risks of metabolic syndrome. Results showed that increasing racial/ethnic diversity within a neighborhood was associated with decreasing risks of being diagnosed metabolic syndrome among women, younger adults, and residents living in urban or poor neighborhoods. The findings point to the potential benefits of neighborhood racial/ethnic diversity on individual health risks. Study implications are discussed.