Study: Young Black Women Burn Fewer Calories Than White Women

Young black women burn fewer calories each day than young white women, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

Black adolescents and women tend to have a higher rate of obesity than white adolescents and women even if they were at the same weight and had the same eating and exercise patterns as young girls. Prior research suggested that the cause might be a lower energy metabolism in the black women.

Researchers measured the resting energy expenditure and genetic variations of 141 young women between the ages of 18 to 21 to test the possible genetic factors causing the ethnic differences.

In the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers report that the black women burned 76 fewer calories per day than the white women, which could cause a difference in weight gain over a period of time.

Investigators discovered that black women with a particular gene variation were more likely to have a slower metabolism than black women without the gene variation. The gene variation was found in 8 percent of black women and 22 percent of white women taking part in the study. The gene variation did not seem to be linked to a slower metabolism in the white women.

Other sources: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition