*(Via Health Day News) – The link between chronic stress and weight gain is much stronger in black girls than white girls, and may help explain why black girls are more likely to be overweight than white girls, according to a new study.
In the United States, the obesity rate in blacks is 50 percent higher than in whites, the researchers noted. This difference is apparent even in childhood, particularly among female teens.
Researchers looked at obesity rates among nearly 2,400 black and white girls, who were followed for up to 10 years beginning at age 10 as part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Growth and Health Study. The researchers also looked at the girls’ stress levels over that time.
The study was published online in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Over the study period, more black girls were overweight or obese than white girls. Even though black girls reported less stress than white girls, the effect of chronic stress on body-mass index was stronger among black girls, said A. Janet Tomiyama, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues. Body-mass index, or BMI, is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight.
Read/learn more at US News.
Y’all wasted your money on this study because a black girl is not under any more stress than a white girl, this is another excuse . Black girls don’t learn to eat yogurt and fruit for breakfast until it becomes a need, white girls grow up on it because their mothers stress eating to stay thin, black girls learn to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner – rarely portion control. We grew up on soul food and not that I think it is fattening it is that we eat equal portions of everything. Stop looking for reasons that don’t take care of the problem and learn to eat healthier, its as simple as that.