WEIGHT-RELATED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS OF WOMEN WHO DIET TO LOSE WEIGHT - A COMPARISON OF BLACK DIETERS AND WHITE DIETERS

Obesity is a significant health problem among black women in the Unite d States. Black women are two to three times more likely than white wo men to be obese. The present study sought to examine race differences in attitudes and beliefs about dieting, motivations underlying dieting efforts, and actual dieting strategies and behaviors. To achieve this aim, a subset of female survey respondents (n = 324) was drawn from a pool of more than 20,000 subscribers to Consumer Reports. All survey respondents had made at least one dieting effort within 3 years of the time of the study. For this study, we used all black female responden ts (n = 162) and a matched sample (i.e., matched on age, educational a ttainment, and personal income) of white women (n = 162). Black women did weigh significantly more than Caucasian women, therefore, BMI was used as a covariate in all subsequent analyses. Black and white women were significantly different in a number of domains. Compared to white women, black women experienced less social pressure about their weigh t, initiated dieting later in life, and were significantly less likely to diet at each developmental milestone. However, the two groups of w omen did not differ in reasons for undertaking their most recent dieti ng efforts, or in the types of weight loss strategies they had employe d. Nor were there differences between the black and white women in met hods for coping responses with dietary relapse or in rates of disorder ed eating. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for both treatment and prevention of obesity in black women.