Black women find it harder to lose weight than white women because they have slower metabolisms
ByEmma Innes
PUBLISHED: 10:59 GMT, 23 December 2013 | UPDATED: 11:02 GMT, 23 December 2013
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African-American women have to eat fewer calories or take more exercise to lose the same amount of weight as Caucasian women
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
- This means they have to eat fewer calories or take more exercise to lose the same amount of weight
- Researchers found that African-American women lost, on average, 7lbs less than Caucasian women on the same diet
ByEmma Innes
PUBLISHED: 10:59 GMT, 23 December 2013 | UPDATED: 11:02 GMT, 23 December 2013
541shares
333
View
comments

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
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