%0 Journal Article
%T Obesity and African Americans: Physiologic and Behavioral Pathways
%A Preetha Anna Abraham
%A Josh Ben Kazman
%A Stacey Anne Zeno
%A Patricia Anne Deuster
%J ISRN Obesity
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/314295
%X Although progress has been made to understand the association between physiological and lifestyle behaviors with regard to obesity, ethnic differences in markers of obesity and pathways towards obesity remain somewhat unexplained. However, obesity remains a serious growing concern. This paper highlights ethnic differences in African Americans and Caucasians that may contribute to the higher prevalence of obesity among African Americans. Understanding ethnic differences in metabolic syndrome criteria, functioning of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, variations in glucocorticoid sensitivity and insulin resistance, and physical activity and cardiovascular fitness levels may help to inform practical clinical and public health interventions and reduce obesity disparities. 1. Introduction Overweight and obesity are chronic health illnesses affecting many children and adults in the United States [1, 2]. The health consequences of overweight and obesity are enormous, particularly the risk of developing chronic diseases such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Obesity disproportionately affects ethnic minorities, women and individuals from lower socioeconomic groups [3, 4]. In particular, African Americans (AAs) are disproportionately affected by obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, and it is likely that a host of factors interact in complex, and yet unexplained, ways to contribute to these health disparities. The prevalence of overweight or obesity in African women (66%) is 1.4 times that in Caucasian (CA) women (47%) [5], and African American (AA) women may be at greatest risk for the health consequences of obesity and have an almost twofold greater risk of developing diabetes and experiencing hypertension at earlier ages; they also have significantly greater abdominal fat [6] than CA women. The objective of the present paper is to highlight selected ethnic differences associated with obesity by focusing on factors that contribute to obesity: metabolic Syndrome (MS) indicators, regulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, glucocorticoid sensitivity (GS), insulin resistance (IR), and physical activity among AAs and Caucasians (CAs). 2. Metabolic Syndrome Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is a constellation of factors used globally for identifying individuals at greatest risk for developing CVD and T2DM [7]. This cluster of interrelated risk factors for CVD and T2DM [8, 9] include glucose intolerance (T2DM, impaired glucose tolerance, impaired fasting glycaemia, or insulin
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.obesity/2013/314295/