The differential gender effect of internalized racism on abdominal obesity in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

•A psycho-social variable is shown to influence physical health.•Women react different to men to internalized racism, and therefore show different health outcomes.•An increase in intra-abdominal obesity is not an inevitable companion of aging among women.•Internalized racism affects abdominal obesity even in the presence of high education among women.

This research examined the effect of a psychosocial variable, internalized racism, on abdominal obesity, as measured by waist circumference. Results show that the effect of internalized racism on waist circumference persists net of other controls among women, but not among men. Also, among women who had high levels of internalized racism and high educational levels, a positive relationship to abdominal obesity is evident despite the tendency of education to be protective of abdominal obesity. This study supports other research findings that internalized racism is related to waist circumference among adult women but not among men in Western Hemisphere blacks. It also supports past research findings of a gendered reaction to psychosocial stress. It also illustrates that this relationship occurs on the continent of Africa, an area where research on this phenomenon is scarce.