¹Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

²Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, USA

³University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Correspondence to: J M Jakicic, Brown University School of Medicine/Miriam Hospital, Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, 164 Summit Avenue, RISE Building, Providence, RI 02906, USA. Email: jjakicic@lifespan.org

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether there are ethnic differences in oxygen consumption during fixed periods of exercise.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional.

SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven African-American and 120 Caucasian overweight adult women (body mass index=32.8±4.1 kg/m², age=36.7±5.6 y) prior to initiating a weight loss program.

MEASUREMENTS: Measurement of oxygen consumption occurred during four stages of a graded exercise test, with body composition assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

RESULTS: There were no significant differences between overweight African-American and Caucasian women for absolute oxygen consumption or oxygen consumption adjusted for either body weight or fat-free mass across four levels of a submaximal graded exercise test.

CONCLUSION: The results from this study suggest that African-American and Caucasian women do not differ in energy expenditure during fixed workloads of exercise, suggesting that this may not contribute to differences in energy balance and body weight regulation between women in these two ethnic groups.

International Journal of Obesity (2001) 25, 949-953

ethnicity; physical activity; energy expenditure