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Comparison of risk factors for obesity in young, nonobese African-American and Caucasian women

International Journal of Obesity volume 24, pages 1514–1522 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether specific risk factors for obesity were more evident in young, normal-weight African-American (AA) compared to Caucasian-American (CA) women.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional age-matched study.

SUBJECTS: Young, nonobese, sedentary AA (n=13, 22.5 y of age, 23.6% body fat) and CA women (n=11, 21.5 y of age, 24.0% body fat).

MEASUREMENTS: Aerobic physical fitness (peak VO2), resting metabolic rate (RMR), resting and submaximal exercise fat oxidation rates, total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) by the doubly-labeled water method, physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE), skeletal muscle glycolytic (phosphofructokinase activity (PFK)) and β-oxidative (β-hydroxy-acyl CoA dehydrogenase (β-HADH)) activity, and insulin sensitivity estimated by the insulin-augmented frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test.

RESULTS: The AA and CA subjects were similar in age, body mass index and body composition, but the AA women exhibited lower peak VO2. There were no group differences in RMR adjusted for body composition, or in the rates of submaximal exercise energy expenditure or fat oxidation, and no difference in skeletal muscle β-HADH or PFK activity. The AA women exhibited lower insulin sensitivity and greater acute insulin response to glucose. The mean TDEE for the AA women was only 74% that of the CA women, primarily due to a lower physical activity energy expenditure (AA group: x PAEE=1246±438 kJ/day; CA group: x=3310±466 kJ/day.

CONCLUSION: These data indicate that PAEE and its correlates of peak aerobic capacity and insulin sensitivity are lower in young, nonobese AA women compared to their CA counterparts.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (P30 DK-48520-01) and General Clinical Research Center Grant (RR-00051), and the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station (Project 616). We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr James O Hill, Dr Michael Pagliassotti, Teresa Sharp, Curtis Jatkauskas, and the Nursing Staff of the General Clinical Nutrition Research Center from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and Harry Vaughn and Dr Christine Lindquist from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Additionally we would like to thank the Office of Black Student Services at Colorado State University for help in recruiting study participants, and we are especially greatful to the women who kindly volunteered to participate in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Nutrition and Metabolic Fitness Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 80523, CO, USA

    CL Melby, RC Ho, K Jeckel & L Beal

  2. Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

    M Goran

  3. University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO, USA

    WT Donahoo

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  1. CL Melby
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Correspondence to CL Melby.

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Melby, C., Ho, R., Jeckel, K. et al. Comparison of risk factors for obesity in young, nonobese African-American and Caucasian women. Int J Obes 24, 1514–1522 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801413

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