Title

Cigarette Smoking Is Associated With Energy Balance in Premenopausal African-American Adult Women Differently Than in Similarly Aged White Women

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2003

Description

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential association of cigarette smoking with energy balance in African-American and white premenopausal women. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of energy balance, weight, and smoking in women. SUBJECT: A total of 374 women: 191 African-American (mean age = 29.8 ± 6.5y) and 183 white women (mean age = 28.9 ± 7.1 y). MEASUREMENTS: Weight, cigarette smoking habits, resting energy expenditure, dietary intake, and physical activity. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in dietary intake by race or smoking status. The model for physical activity was significant (P = 0.0004), with body mass index (BMI) having the largest effect on activity (P<0.001). Smoking status was related to activity, with the heaviest smokers reporting more activity than nonsmokers (P= 0.008) or light smokers (P= 0.028). The model for resting energy expenditure (REE) was significant (P<0.0001), with the largest again being BMI (P<0.001). There was also an interaction between ethnicity and smoking status (P<0.0001) such that African-American nonsmokers and light smokers tended to have lower REE than several other groups, most often the African-American moderate heavy smokers. The model for BMI was significant (P<0.0001) with an interaction for ethnicity and smoking status (P = 0.0009). African-American nonsmokers and light smokers had significantly higher BMIs than most of the other groups. CONCLUSION: African-American women who were the heaviest smokers had a lower adjusted BMI than the heaviest smoking white women. This effect, at least partially, may be related to an increased REE in the African-American smoking women. While energy intake did not appear to be important in this relationship, energy expended in physical activity appeared to be increased with smoking, as was REE.

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