Race as a factor in weight lost

Black Women Find It
Harder To Lose Weight
Than White Women — January 2, 2014 From their genes to the speed of their
metabolism, people come up with an
enormous range of excuses for their
failure to shed their extra pounds. Now, new research suggests ethnicity
could be a valid explanation for dieting
disasters. Researchers discovered African-
American women have to eat fewer
calories and take more exercise to lose
the same amount of weight as their
Caucasian counterparts. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine believe this is
because they have slower metabolic
rates. During their study, they found African-
American women lost, on average, 7lbs
less than Caucasian women on the same
diet. Previous studies have shown that black
women do not lose as much weight as
white women when they diet. Dr James DeLany, associate professor
at the Division of Endocrinology and
Metabolism at Pitt School of Medicine,
explained: ‘At first, it was thought that
perhaps the African-American women
didn’t adhere as closely to their calorie prescriptions or that the interventions
were not culturally sensitive. ‘But even in research projects that were
designed to address those possibilities,
the difference in weight loss remained.’ Dr DeLany’s team decided to see if there
were metabolic reasons behind the
discrepancy. They examined body weight changes,
energy expenditure, physical activity and
calorie intake in 39 severely obese
African-American and 66 Caucasian
women who were participating in a six-
month weight loss programme. They measured body composition and
daily energy expenditure at the beginning
and end of the diet and assessed
physical activity levels. The researchers found the African-
American women lost about seven
pounds fewer than the Caucasian
women, even though their starting body
mass index measures were comparable
and they stuck as closely to the calorie restriction and exercise regime. The
African-American women had lower
resting metabolic rates and expended
less energy daily than the other group. ‘We prescribe how many calories are
allowed and how much activity is needed
during weight loss interventions based on
the premise that people of the same
weight have similar metabolic rates,’ Dr
DeLany explained. ‘But to account for their lower metabolic
rate, African-American women must
further reduce the number of calories
they eat, or use up more of them with
exercise, in order to lose the same
number of pounds in the same time span as a Caucasian woman of t