Hazard of Weight Gain for Blacks UnclearAssociated Press
June 28,2004 While much research suggests even a little extra weight can be bad for people's health, the hazard is much less clear for black people than for whites.
Several studies show little or no association between rising weight and the risk of death for U.S. blacks, especially women. In fact, being overweight but not obese could even be a benefit rather than a hazard.
The question is why. Are blacks truly less susceptible than whites to the ill effects of fat? Or are the studies somehow so flawed that they fail to measure this effect?
"People don't know what to make of it," says Dr. Steven Heymsfield of Columbia University. "Blacks still have a lot of strokes and heart attacks, but maybe it's for reasons other than BMI."
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