Minorities rely on diet, exercise as weight-loss strategies

Internal Medicine News,  Dec 1, 2006  by Mary Ellen Schneider

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DALLAS -- African Americans and Hispanics were more likely to use diet and exercise to lose weight than to seek counseling from a dietitian or try prescription medications, according to a poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Medical Association.

Among individuals who had attempted to lose weight, about 69% of African American adults and 61% of Hispanic adults said they had tried exercise. And eating healthier as a weight loss method was reported by 59% of African Americans and 51% of Hispanics.

But fewer individuals reported seeking counseling from a dietitian, with 12% of African Americans and 8% of Hispanics citing that approach as a weight loss method. Only about 8% of individuals in both groups reported that they had ever used prescription medications for weight loss.

The study--conducted by investigators at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare of Pittsburgh and consultants affiliated with the company--included 604 African Americans and 600 Hispanics who were surveyed by telephone about their weight loss strategies. All of the participants in the survey were overweight or had been overweight.

A significantly greater proportion of African American respondents were overweight or obese, compared with the Hispanics surveyed.

Of the 604 African Americans who participated, 31% were overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9 kg/[m.sup.2], and 54% were obese, with a BMI of 30 or more. Among the 600 Hispanic respondents, 38% were considered overweight and 34% were obese. The BMI calculations were based on self-reported height and weight.

The study also found that only about 35% of Hispanics and 40% of African Americans surveyed had been advised by a physician or other health care provider to lose weight.

BY MARY ELLEN SCHNEIDER

New York Bureau

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