African-American Women Need To Exercise More, Eat Less Than Caucasians To Lose Weight

Researchers who looked for metabolic reasons why African-American women don’t lose as much weight as white women when they diet or exercise have found that the African-American women had lower resting metabolic rates and generally expended less energy during activity. That means that to lose weight they need to eat fewer – and burn more – calories than Caucasian women. The U.S. study was conducted among 39 severely obese African-American and 66 Caucasian women who participated in a six-month weight loss program. The African-American women lost about seven pounds fewer than the Caucasian women, even though their starting body mass index, or BMI, measures were comparable and they consumed the same number of calories and exercised the same way.