An increased incidence of obesity exists in Black American women and accumulating evidence suggests that Black Americans have greater difficulty achieving and maintaining weight loss compared with their Caucasian counterparts. Interviews with Black Americans involved in weight loss programs indicate that the subjects experience intensely negative feelings during fasting and exhibit increased attention to the taste of food. As Black infants, children and adults prefer higher concentrations of sweet solutions compared with Caucasians, these responses to caloric restriction and the sensory properties of food may contribute to the ethnic differences observed in weight loss and weight maintenance. The general hypothesis of this proposal is that genetic and cultural factors pertaining to the perception and experience of hunger, satiety and taste influence food consumption, thereby contributing to the observed ethnic differences in weight maintenance. To date, systematic investigations of these factors have not been conducted. The objectives of the pilot study are to determine whether ethnic differences exist in perceptions of hunger, satiety and taste between Black (used interchangeably in this proposal with African-American) and Caucasian American women and whether these postulated differences are dependent or independent of weight. The long-term goal is to apply the findings from this pilot project to determine ethnic-specific potential predictors of individual responses to successful weight loss and to develop appropriate dietary recommendations for the Black community.
The Aims of the proposal are to determine if differences exist between normal weight and obese African-American and Caucasian women in 1) perception and experience of hunger and satiety 2) perceptions of intensity and preferences for sweet, salty and fat stimuli and 3 )in perceptions of intensity and preferences for food stimuli in the fed and fasted state.
These aims will be addressed by experiments manipulating hunger and satiety and then measuring experiences to these manipulations using visual analogue scales and figure imaging, and mood using the profile of mood scale. Preference and perception of taste intensity to sweet, salty and fat liquid and solid stimuli wilt be evaluated under fasted and fed conditions. The findings of this pilot project will contribute to developing ethnic-specific dietary recommendations to improve health in the Black community.
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