Do African American women require fewer calories to maintain weight? Results from a controlled feeding trial

Background: The high prevalence of obesity in African American (AA) women may result, in part, from a lower resting metabolic rate (RMR) than non-AA women. If true, AA women should require fewer calories than non-AA women to maintain weight. Our objective was to determine in the setting of a controlled feeding study, if AA women required fewer calories than non-AA women to maintain weight. Materials and Methods: This analysis includes 206 women (73% AA), aged 2275 years, who participated in the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) triala multicenter, randomized, controlled, feeding study comparing the effects of 3 dietary patterns on blood pressure in individuals with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension. After a 3-week run-in, participants were randomized to 1 of 3 dietary patterns for 8 weeks. Calorie intake was adjusted during feeding to maintain stable weight. The primary outcome of this analysis was average daily calorie (kcal) intake during feeding. Results: AA women had higher baseline weight and body mass index than non-AA women (78.4 vs 72.4 kg, P < .01; 29.0 vs 27.6 kg/m2, P < .05, respectively). During intervention feeding, mean (SD) kcal was 2168 (293) in AA women and 2073 (284) in non-AA women. Mean intake was 94.7 kcal higher in AA women than in non-AA women (P < .05). After adjustment for potential confounders, there was no difference in caloric intake between AA and non-AA women (Δ= 2.8 kcal, P = .95). Conclusion: These results do not support the view that AA women are at greater risk for obesity because they require fewer calories to maintain weight. (Nutr Clin Pract. 2012;27:561-567)