Ethnic differences in dietary intakes, physical activity, and energy expenditure in middle-aged, premenopausal women: the Healthy Transitions Study

Abstract

Background:Menopause is a time of increased risk of obesity in women. The effect of menopause in African American women, in whom obesity is already highly prevalent, is unknown. Objective: We compared dietary intakes and energy expenditure (EE) between middle-aged, premenopausal African American and white women participating in a longitudinal study of the menopausal transition. Design: Dietary intakes by food record, EE by triaxial accelerometer, physical activity by self-report, and body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry were compared in 97 white and 52 African American women. Twenty-four-hour and sleeping EE were measured by whole-room indirect calorimetry in 56 women. Results: Sleeping EE (adjusted for lean and fat mass) was lower in African American than in white women (5749 ± 155 compared with 6176 ± 75 kJ/d; P = 0.02); however, there was no significant difference in 24-h EE between groups. Reported leisure activity over the course of a week was less in African American than in white women (556 ± 155 compared with 1079 ± 100 kJ/d; P = 0.02), as were the daily hours spent standing and climbing stairs. Dietary intakes of protein, fiber, calcium, magnesium, and several fatty acids were significantly less in African Americans, whereas there were no observed ethnic differences in intakes of fat or carbohydrate. Body fat within the whole group was positively correlated with total, saturated, and monounsaturated fat intakes and inversely associated with fiber and calcium intakes. Fiber was the strongest single predictor of fatness. Conclusion: Ethnic differences in EE and the intake of certain nutrients may influence the effect of menopausal transition on obesity in African American women.Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74:90-5.

Total daily energy expenditure in black and white, lean and obese South African women

“…However, these ethnic differences were largely attributed to differences in PAEE, and not as a result of lower REE, as previously reported in studies from the United States (Albu et al, 1997;Foster et al, 1997;Carpenter et al, 1998;Hunter et al, 2000;Weinsier et al, 2000Weinsier et al, , 2002Lovejoy et al, 2001;Sharp et al, 2002). In the present study, total PAEE was on average 25% lower in the black as compared to white women, largely due to between-group differences in the weight-bearing stepping exercise, where white obese women accumulated a significantly greater PAEE (11%) than black women.…”

“…Studies (Albu et al, 1997;Carpenter et al, 1998;Hunter et al, 2000;Lovejoy et al, 2001;Sharp et al, 2002;Weinsier et al, 2002) have reported lower resting energy expenditure (REE) in obese and reduced obese African American (AA) women compared to their white counterparts (Foster et al, 1997;Weinsier et al, 2000). This difference in REE persists even after adjusting for differences in fat-free mass (FFM) (Foster et al, 1999), and is thought to contribute to the higher obesity prevalence found in the AA compared to the white population.…”

Effect of calcium and dairy foods in high protein, energy-restricted diets on weight loss and metabolic parameters in overweight adults

“…1 Observational studies have shown an inverse relationship between dietary calcium intake (particularly from dairy sources) and body fat/weight, [2][3][4][5][6] although not consistently observed. 7 Similarly, dietary patterns with a high intake of dairy food/calcium have been linked to reduced incidence of insulin resistance in overweight adults, 8 lower blood pressure 9 and improved lipid profile.…”

Parathyroid hormone is associated with decreased fat mass in young healthy women

“…A variety of studies demonstrate that higher intakes of calcium or dairy products, the predominant dietary source of calcium in the US, are associated with weight loss, with some showing specificity to fat mass loss. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] For example, we conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in our laboratory during a 2-year exercise intervention trial in 54 young, healthy women. 16 Results indicated that calcium intake, adjusted for calories, was negatively associated with changes in body weight and fat mass in women whose energy intakes were at or below the overall group mean of 1876 kcal/day.…”