msnbc   |  June 07, 2012

Study finds exercise has little impact on weight for black girls

MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks to Ashley Hicks of “Black Girls, Run!” about a study that found exercise has a greater impact for white girls than black girls.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> regular exercise equates a slimmer waistline, yet a new study finds this may not be the case for black girls and teens. the archives of pediatrics and adolescent medicine reported that some invisible hurdles are discovered that black girls metabolize slower when they're resting. they burn less energy, and burn less fat as well. joining me to talk about this studio is ashley hicks t. co-creator of the group black girl run. here's the study. monitoring 12 to 14-year-old teens action and found for white girls exercise just plain works, about you for african-americans there's this minute pal impact. how do you think that young girls hearing about this new study who are weight-conscious, body-conscious because of our society, what it does to young girls, how it will be digested?

>> no one wants to hear it's going to be harder for you to lose weight , but i also think it's an opportunity to really start talking about diet. the study talks a lot about exercise. i think our community needs to start having this larger conversation about diet, what we're eating and how we're preparing our foods. that's also another challenge that's adding to the obesity epidemic.

>> certainly michelle obama has gone flack for her campaign, she's a role model. as we look at 4 out of 5 black women are overweight or obese, black girls being 80% more likely to be obese than white girls. the new study concludes that the community should focus on diet and intakes verse exercise. it primarily more about food and your habits?

>> it's definitely a coordinated effort, but, you know, whether you're black or white , if you want amazing abs, you work on that at the gym, but it's really at the kitchen table.

>> they're elusive implts it will make a difference.

>> real quickly, michelle obama her "let's move" initiative, do you think this study will undo recent good works she's trying to do?

>> no, definitely not. i think michelle, the work is so amazing, because it's educating kids on the impact the exercise on, on creating a healthy lifestyle, it's about quality of life , not just what the