(P27-089-25) Longitudinal Association Between Perceived Racial Discrimination and Diet-Associated Inflammation in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study

Objectives: Racial discrimination is a well-established stressor among adults but remains poorly understood in adolescent populations. Its relation with the inflammatory potential of diet is even more understudied in both populations. This study examined the association between perceived interpersonal racial discrimination and diet-associated inflammation among U.S. adolescents.

Methods: We conducted both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses using data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a diverse and nationally representative sample of 9- and 10-year-olds in the U.S. Perceived Racial Discrimination was measured using the validated Youth Discrimination Measure. Likert scale responses to seven questions were reverse coded and a mean was computed. Higher scores indicate greater levels of perceived racial discrimination. A 7-day parent-reported Youth Block Food Frequency Survey was used to assess dietary intake. Children’s Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII) scores were calculated to estimate the inflammatory potential of diet, with higher C-DII scores indicating more pro-inflammatory diets. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations.

Results: The analytic sample included 10,973 participants (mean age 12.0 ± 0.67 years). Of these, 47.5% were female; 53.5% were White, 19.7% Hispanic/Latino, and 14.2% Black. The mean perceived racial discrimination score was 1.14 ± 0.32. The average C-DII score was slightly anti-inflammatory at -0.22 ± 1.45. A one unit increase in perceived interpersonal discrimination was associated with higher diet-associated inflammation (β = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.05–0.21, p = 0.002). This association persisted one year later, with perceived discrimination at Time 1 predicting higher diet-associated inflammation 2 years later (β = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.05–0.19, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Interpersonal racial discrimination not only increases inflammation directly through psychological stress but may indirectly do so by influencing pro-inflammatory dietary patterns in adolescents, with effects which persist over time. Our findings provide early evidence for indirect behavioral pathways through which discrimination may affect chronic disease risk.

Funding Sources: Washington University in St. Louis WU-CDTR/NIDDK