Study finds heavier black women outlive their thinner sisters

posted 01/09/03

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Most people who are obese as teenagers or young adults can expect to lose two to
12 years off their lives, according to a new study.

But the big anomaly is overweight black women, who for some reason live about a year
longer than skinnier black women, the study in today's edition of Journal of the American
Medical Association shows.

It's not until their body-mass index reaches 37 - 225 pounds for a 5-foot 7-inch black
woman - that obesity starts to lessen the lifespan. Black women of average height and
who weigh between 150 and 200 pounds live about a year longer than those who weigh less.

"I find that fascinating," said Dr. Robert Eckel, chairman of the council on nutrition, physical
activity and metabolism of the American Heart Association. "Being overweight seems to
actually be a benefit" for black women.

Eckel says it might have to do with people of African descent having less fat in their bellies,
instead gaining fat below the skin all over the body.

Having less abdominal fat makes for higher levels of good cholesterol, he said.

But that theory breaks down in the face of data that show blacks have higher rates of high
blood pressure and diabetes, obesity-related diseases that can shorten lifespan, he said.

Black women in Denver eye the study suspiciously and hope it doesn't give their peers an
excuse to grab for extra helpings or stop exercising.

"I would want to know the variables, how the research was done," said Emma Johnson, who
is coordinator of the health ministry at Zion Baptist Church near downtown Denver.

"We are definitely not going to stop telling our people to watch their weight, eat healthier
foods, cut the fat and exercise," she said.

"I hope this research doesn't spread widely because it could become another excuse for us to
not pay attention to our nutrition and exercise."

She doubts that black women truly have a unique capability to live a long life while being
overweight, but even if that somehow is true, it would be a poor reason to eat and sit on the
couch.

Her church is active in the Colorado on the Move walking program "so we can live better and
feel better," not just live longer, she said.

The JAMA editorial board warned that the findings on black women might be due to shortcomings
of the study.

Manson and Shari Bassuk of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston said: "It would be a great
disservice to blacks if these results were used to promulgate the concept that excess weight is
not harmful to them."

Black males seem to get away with being somewhat overweight -- say, 230 lbs. for a 6-footer --
but sharply cut their life-span if they get more obese.

Those who become obese at an earlier age will lose the most years, says the study by
researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Alabama.

Twenty-year-olds who are morbidly obese will lose between four and 20 years of life: four years
for black women, seven years for white women, 12 years for white men and 20 years for black men.

However, most people with weight problems are in the 30 BMI to 40 BMI range. If Caucasian adults
reached that weight in their 30s, the men would expect to lose from two to five years of life-span,
and the women between one and four years.

The overall findings are no suprise: obesity harms your health and shortens your life.

Tuesday, Dutch researchers made public their study of 3,400 middle-aged Americans which
showed that being overweight at 40 likely will reduce life expectancy by at least three years.
That's as much as smoking cigarettes, they said. Being obese -- rather than merely overweight --
cuts life span six or seven years.

In super-sized America, some 20 percent of adults are obese and two-thirds are at least a
little overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System.

But when the CDC actually weighs the people, rather than letting them self-report their
weight over the phone, the percentage of obese adult Americans jumps to 30 percent.

On the telephone survey, Colorado has the lowest percentage of obese adults in the nation,
13.8 percent, or about one in seven.

Fifty-thousand Coloradans are trying to keep their state the only one in the nation where
fewer than half the adults are overweight.

The Colorado on the Move program has sold 50,000 step counters as part of its campaign to
get people walking, and keep them from gaining weight.

A project of the University of Colorado Center for Human Nutrition, it aims to be a simple,
painless way to lose or maintain weight by walking an extra 1,000 to 5,000 steps a day.

Colorado has more than its share of marathoners, skiers and bicyclists. Still, it has more than
1 million adults who are overweight.

Not too many of them are going to become hard-core athletes. But most of them can get a lot of
good out of walking around their neighborhood, or around a park during lunch hour, or taking the
stairs rather than the elevator, said Helen Thompson, coordinator of the program for the CU Center.

It's not as if most of them have unconquerable eating disorders.

In fact, most probably just gained a pound or two a year, but 20 or 30 years of that makes them
overweight or obese, and at risk for numerous health problems that come with that.

A pound or two a year is just a smidgen more calories consumed than burned each day.

People who've been frustrated by diets can instead walk a mile or two or three extra a day and
see the difference.

Those who want to walk on their own can get a step counter at Gart Sports or at certain other
sporting goods stores. Otherwise, buy online through www.coloradoonthemove.org.

There is a telephone number, but it's only for people who want to buy numerous step
counters for a group. It is 303-315-4084.

Source: Rocky Mountain News.

January 2003 News Article Index