Gender differences in body mass index and weight loss strategies among African Americans.

The goals of this study were to examine gender differences in body satisfaction, obesity status, and weight loss strategies among African Americans. A self-administered survey was completed by a convenient sample of 789 African Americans, but 763 provided weight and height information. Significantly more men than women were satisfied or very satisfied with their weight. Based on self-reported weights, the mean body mass index for both men (26.61+/-4.23) and women (26.44+/-5.80) was greater than 25, thus classifying them as being overweight. Sixty-two percent of respondents had tried to lose weight in the last 12 months, with significantly more women trying to lose weight than men (P<.0001). Of those who tried to lose weight, most tried to lose weight by decreasing fried foods, decreasing sweets, and increasing exercise levels. Women were significantly more likely than men to use liquid meals, to use diet pills, to join a weight loss program, and to increase exercise levels to lose weight (P<.05).

Physical activity in free-living, overweight white and black women: divergent responses by race to diet-induced weight loss.

BACKGROUND: Black women are at greater risk of obesity than are white women, perhaps because of their lower levels of physical activity. OBJECTIVE: We compared free-living activity energy expenditure (AEE) in sedentary white and black women (in overweight and normal-weight states) and in never-overweight control subjects. DESIGN: Subjects included 46 women (23 white, 23 black) studied while overweight and after reaching a normal weight and 38 female control subjects (23 white, 15 black). Diet, without exercise training, resulted in a mean weight loss of 13 kg and a body mass index (in kg/m(2)) < 25. Body composition, sleeping energy expenditure, free-living total energy expenditure, and the energy cost of activity and aerobic capacity were assessed before and after weight loss under 4-wk, diet-controlled, weight-stable conditions and in the control subjects. AEE was defined as above-sleep energy expenditure. RESULTS: No significant racial differences in body composition, before or after weight loss, were found. After weight loss, AEE and aerobic capacity increased in the white women and decreased in the black women (P < 0.05 and P < 0.02, respectively). After weight loss, but not before, the white women had a significantly higher mean AEE than did the black women (2448 +/- 979 and 1728 +/- 1373 kJ/d, respectively; P < 0.05), approximating AEEs in the white (2314 +/- 1105) and black (2310 +/- 1251) control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to the responses of the white women to diet-induced weight loss, the black women became less fit and less physically active. Induction of a normal body weight in overweight black women appeared to produce a more obesity-prone state, favoring weight relapse.

An integrated method to determine meaningful changes in health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: We describe an integrated method for determining meaningful change in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that combines information from anchor-based and distribution-based methods and illustrate this method using data aggregated from weight loss studies. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A total of 1476 participants in weight loss studies were evaluated at baseline and at 6 months using the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life-Lite (IWQOL-Lite). Severity of baseline impairment was determined by comparing scores with those obtained from a normative sample of 534 normal/overweight individuals. The precision of the IWQOL-Lite was evaluated using standard error of measurement corrected for regression to the mean. weight loss was used as an anchor for evaluating changes in IWQOL-Lite scores. RESULTS: Change in HRQOL varied as a function of weight loss and baseline severity of HRQOL. Using this integrated method, an improvement of 7.7 to 12 points (depending on baseline severity) on IWQOL-Lite total score is considered meaningful. CONCLUSION: Meaningful change in HRQOL can be determined using an integrated method that (1) combines information from anchor-based and distribution-based methods, (2) reconciles discrepancies between these two methods, and (3) adjusts for baseline severity and regression to the mean. This method may be applied to other types of HRQOL measures and conditions.

Weight goals in a college-age population.

OBJECTIVE: Although a growing body of literature has found unrealistic weight loss goals to be common among older, primarily female, subjects, little is known about weight loss goals of younger adults. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Three hundred seventy-nine college students had their height and weight taken and reported their "goal," "dream," "happy," "acceptable," and "disappointed" weights. A series of 2 (gender) x 2 (nonoverweight vs. overweight) ANOVAs were conducted with both absolute weight goals and percentage of weight loss needed to obtain those goals as dependent variables. RESULTS: When examined in terms of absolute weight goals, women generally had lower body mass index (BMI) goals than men, and nonoverweight participants had lower BMI goals than overweight participants. Surprisingly, most overweight participants would accept a weight loss that would still place them in the overweight BMI range. When examined in terms of percentage loss needed to reach those goals, only overweight women chose goal and dream weights that would require a loss greater than can be expected from nonsurgical weight-loss treatments, and all overweight participants chose happy and acceptable weights within 15% of current weight. DISCUSSION: Participants in this study had generally reasonable weight-loss goals, and even the most extreme weight loss goals were much more moderate than those found in previous studies. These results are surprising given the extreme social pressures for thinness facing young adults. Future studies should examine the variables that influence selection of goal weights and how goal weights affect actual dieting behavior.