Black women do not lose as much weight as white women

Researchers discovered African-American/ black women find it hard to lose weight than white women because they have slower metabolic rates which mean they have to eat fewer calories and do more exercise to lose the same amount of weight as their Caucasian women.

Dr James DeLany 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.’

The study examined energy expenditure, physical activity, body weight changes and calorie intake in 39 severely obese African-American and 66 Caucasian women who participated in a six-month weight loss programme. At the end of the diet they found out that 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.

Dr DeLany explained further that ‘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 the same weight.’

Dr James DeLany 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.’

The study examined energy expenditure, physical activity, body weight changes and calorie intake in 39 severely obese African-American and 66 Caucasian women who participated in a six-month weight loss programme. At the end of the diet they found out that 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.

Dr DeLany explained further that ‘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 the same weight.’