Pennington researcher: Blacks have less ‘bad fat’

A researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center has found that blacks tend to carry around less unhealthy abdominal fat than whites, even though they’re more at risk to suffer from obesity related illnesses. “It’s a paradox,” study author Peter Katzmarzyk told HealthDay. “The study clearly shows we have these racial differences in body fat, not just in the type of body fat but where the fat is stored, and these are important differences.” This suggests that body-mass index ratios need to be tailored to race in order to better reflect risk of obesity. The study looked at how much visceral fat tissue was found around the organs. Visceral fat has been linked to the development of ailments such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Blacks are more likely to have more fat just under the skin than whites. Katzmarzyk’s study will be published in next month’s edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.