A NEW exercise intervention has led to weight loss, among other benefits, for African American females with obesity who are at risk for diabetes, according to a recent study. The programme, led by Henri Parson, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia, USA, included single-sex and tailored social support, along with supervised interventions of cardiovascular exercise and resistance training.
The programme, which lasted 24 weeks, linked African American females with obesity to virtual and in-person exercise classes at facilities at local historically Black universities in the USA. In total, 50 African American females (aged approximately 47 years) with obesity (BMI of 36) who had a sedentary lifestyle, and who were at risk for developing diabetes, were enrolled in the programme. At the time of presentation, 35 females had completed 12 weeks of therapy, and 27 had completed 24 weeks.
The team reported that, among the females who completed 24 weeks of the programme, haemoglobin A1c declined from 5.72% at baseline to 5.62% at 12 weeks and 5.55% at 24 weeks (P=0.0235). Additionally, at baseline, the average weight was 220 lbs, which dropped to 208 lbs (P=0.0027) after 24 weeks on the programme. This intervention also led to a decrease in total body fat from 46.5% at baseline to 44.1% at 24 weeks. The social support component, which involved encouraging the females to talk to and support one another, was used to help the participants overcome common barriers to physical exercise among African American females, such as lack of time and body-image issues.
These patients “are taking care of their families, they are focusing on their jobs, on their children, and maybe on elderly adults in the family,” commented the study authors about the difficulties many African American females face, adding: “Then there is cost of going to a gymnasium, and the problems of being oversized in the gymnasium setting.” This intervention successfully led to weight loss in females with obesity who were at risk for developing diabetes, and experts in the field have commented that more programmes like this one would be beneficial to at-risk patients.
Reference
Casellini C et al. Clinical outcomes of a tailored exercise intervention for obese African-American women. AACE Annual Meeting, 9-11 May, 2024.
