Online Medicine

Despite their disproportionate obesity rate, African- American women can lose weight and keep it off once they overcome cultural barriers, according to a focus group study conducted at Baylor College of Medicine and Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston. Results are presented in the July print edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine and are available online. Thirty-seven black women who lost weight and kept it off or who lost weight and regained it participated in focus groups about their weight loss experiences for the study. According to data gathered by the Center for Disease Control in 2002, 82 percent of African-American women over the age of 40 are overweight or obese compared to the national average of 64 percent. The focus group results have been developed into a survey about weight loss for African Americans. Individuals who complete the survey can become part of the African-American Weight Control Registry funded by the National …