Do African American women require fewer calories to maintain weight?: Results from a controlled feeding trial.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The high prevalence of obesity in African American (AA) women may result, in part, from a lower resting metabolic rate (RMR) than non-AA women. If true, AA women should require fewer calories than non-AA women to maintain weight. Our objective was to determine in the setting of a controlled feeding study, if AA women required fewer calories than non-AA women to maintain weight.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This analysis includes 206 women (73% AA), aged 22-75 years, who participated in the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial-a multicenter, randomized, controlled, feeding study comparing the effects of 3 dietary patterns on blood pressure in individuals with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension. After a 3-week run-in, participants were randomized to 1 of 3 dietary patterns for 8 weeks. Calorie intake was adjusted during feeding to maintain stable weight. The primary outcome of this analysis was average daily calorie (kcal) intake during feeding.

RESULTS:

AA women had higher baseline weight and body mass index than non-AA women (78.4 vs 72.4 kg, P < .01; 29.0 vs 27.6 kg/m(2), P < .05, respectively). During intervention feeding, mean (SD) kcal was 2168 (293) in AA women and 2073 (284) in non-AA women. Mean intake was 94.7 kcal higher in AA women than in non-AA women (P < .05). After adjustment for potential confounders, there was no difference in caloric intake between AA and non-AA women (Δ = -2.8 kcal, P = .95).

CONCLUSION:

These results do not support the view that AA women are at greater risk for obesity because they require fewer calories to maintain weight.

• Authors: Laprincess C Brewer, Edgar R Miller, Lawrence J Appel, Cheryl A M Anderson
• Journal: Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (Nutr Clin Pract) Vol. 27 Issue 4 Pg. 561-7 (Aug 2012) ISSN: 1941-2452 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22668852 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Topics

• Adult
• Black or African American
• Aged
• Basal Metabolism
• Blood Pressure
• Body Composition
• Body Mass Index
• Body Weight
• Diet
• Energy Intake
• Female
• Humans
• Hypertension (diet therapy, physiopathology)
• Middle Aged
• Obesity (physiopathology)
• Young Adult