Cigarette smoking is associated with energy balance in premenopausal African-American adult women differently than in similarly aged white women.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the differential association of cigarette smoking with energy balance in African-American and white premenopausal women.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of energy balance, weight, and smoking in women.


METHODS
A total of 374 women: 191 African-American (mean age=29.8+/-6.5 y) and 183 white women (mean age=28.9+/-7.1 y).


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D017697:Premenopause / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism*; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American