Overweight and obesity in black women: a review of published data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Overweight is a major health problem for black women in the United States. The age-adjusted prevalence of overweight was 47.1 percent in 1960-1962, 46.8 percent in 1971-1974, and 48.1 percent in 1976-1980 for black women aged 25 to 74 years, much higher than that of white women or men of either race. Black women born in later decades tended to be more overweight than those born earlier. Black women were first clearly more obese than white women in the third decade of life. Overweight was inversely related to family income and education. Rural and southern women were more overweight than their urban, northern, and western counterparts. More research is needed upon which to base efforts to control and prevent overweight in black women.