No matter what your what your ethnic origins, if you’re overweight or obese, losing weight is important for better health and a longer life. However, some research has found that black women are less likely to ask for health from a doctor, a physical trainer or even to join a weight loss program to lose weight compared to white women.
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Apparently, both black and white women were concerned about their appearance and weight. In spite of this white women were more likely to be pushed by this concern into taking action about their weight. Concerns about the health risks of being overweight or obese were not the primary reasons for women trying to lose weight.
Cultural beliefs may affect the way in which women chose to access health information. This may mean that the available methods of disseminating information about weight loss and dieting etc may not be completely acceptable to black women and possibly other ethnic minorities.
That’s pretty interesting..not sure how true it is…I went to an all black school and those girls were pretty athletic and health conscious, but I guess that’s not what it’s saying…I think people are generally not inclined to ask for health help whether they are black or white. Maybe black women feel they have to be strong on their own from their upbringings.
Hi Matt. Thanks for dropping by. Partly, I think there is more tolerance for being overweight in the black community. Statistics show that obesity is more common in blacks than in whites. I think maybe some research is needed in which black communities are asked about the way they access health care services and maybe what makes them uncomfortable in terms of the way health care is delivered to them. There are obviously some obstacles that are getting in the way.
I never thought there is a difference. Have you conducted some sort of survey among black woman? Or is it just a wild guess? But I do agree with you that there is more tolerance for being overweight in black community compared to whites.
Nothing as formal as research, mostly from personal experience and interaction.
Can this also be due to the difference in genetic makeup? What I mean is that will there any chance that black people are more difficult to lose weight due to the genetic makeup?
Weight loss is something that everyone is interested in and I think it is mainly because being fat is not well received in the society.
I think ethnic origin can determine the patterns too. I have seen examples myself. I think white woman are more concerned about their weight maybe because of social pressure.
This is an interesting study, I think the major reason of course is the social circle that people are in.
I didnt know such a thing existed and this has helped me see things in new light.
Well these days there are studies on so many things and this comes as an interesting find!
I think white women are indeed more conscious and that is mainly because of the social stigma and also the mental make up.
There a lot of black people that I know are worried about their looks and weight and I think these studies can not be taken seriously.
But I think they make for interesting reading.
Overall, weight isn’t as big an issue in the our community even among middle class blacks. Upper middle class blacks are sometimes a bit more weight conscious,though.
My friends and I choose to watch our diets and exercise to prvent health problems,not to fit into a size 4 dress.I’ve never heard a black woman raised among black people say she was dieting to improve her body image. (With all the interracial adoptions and black kids raised solely in white suburbs,that’s likely to change due to the lack of a strong,consistent connection to the black community.)
I am an educated black woman, and I have noticed the differences in the way weight is perceived in the black and hispanic communities vs. the white community.
While no one wants to be unhealthy, the black and hispanic communities don’t always share the same aesthetic values as white communities. Culturally there is a high value placed on curves and feminine frames. Being very thin is often associated with being unhealthy or under developed. So we don’t necessarily strive to be a size four. Most strive to be healthy and around a size eight or 10.