Lower fat oxidation in black girls during puberty as a potential risk factor predisposing to obesity
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This cross-sectional study was designed to test the hypothesis that in black children, puberty-associated increase in fat oxidation is diminished and could play a role in predisposing to fat accretion triggered during puberty. To this end, the relationships between race, pubertal development and postabsorptive fat oxidation in youth were examined in healthy youth of both genders (50 Blacks and 51 Whites), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and substrate oxidation rate being measured after an overnight fast using indirect calorimetry. Body composition was measured by means of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Independent of gender, RMR (kcal/kg fat free mass (FFM)/min) was significantly lower in the pubertal versus the prepubertal group within each race. Furthermore, RMR was significantly lower in black girls than in white girls and independent of pubertal status, black girls had significantly lower fat oxidation (micromol/kgFFM/min) than white girls. Moreover, there was a trend towards a greater difference in fat oxidation between the prepubertal versus the pubertal groups in white girls as compared with black girls. These findings suggest that lower fat oxidation and RMR during puberty in black girls could be a risk factor predisposing to obesity.
Abstract
