Research is also needed to identify the mechanisms and processes that give rise to those situations where whites are more adversely affected by risk factors than racial minorities. In one national study, for example, persistent poverty was unrelated to stunting and wasting for blacks, but positively related for whites and Hispanics.34 Similarly, black newborns are twice as likely as white ones to be low birth weight, but low birth weight is more strongly linked to neonatal mortality for whites than for blacks.35 Although the prevalence of obesity is higher for black than for white women, obesity is more strongly related to mortality for white than for black women.36, 37 Future research could profitably explore the extent to which these patterns could reflect weaker, habituation effects for blacks due to earlier exposure and elevated levels of exposure, and/or the conditions under which the presence of cultural, SES, psychosocial, religious and other resources can weaken the health effects of certain risk factors. Research should also examine the extent to which observed racial variations in the effects of risk factors are similar to
