That's what my pcp said when I went for my physical Fri afternoon.  She said that she was very pleased with my 45 lb weight loss in a little under 3 months, especially since African American  and latino women statistically are slower losers when it comes to WLS.  So to my women of color that have had wls, do you find that you are losing at a slower rate?

Hi Elena,

I had surgery three weeks after you and although I've noticed my weight is slowly coming off,but initially I wasn't compliant with all of my "rules" like getting all of the required protein or water in a day. Then I started struggling with my vitamins. SO now at my eight weeks mark, I've hit my stride and I expect the weight loss to continue since I'm 100% in the zone with water, protein, vitamins, and exercise. Although I've never heard that before, even if it's true not all surgeries are the same, so everyone's wls journey is different.

BTW - There's a Black American Forum on OH so you may want to XP there as well.

Thanks I will X post. And here is an interesting link.

.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20060511/weight-loss-black-wo men

I remember asking Dr. Sudan about this pre-op and I remember this being one of the main reasons that I wanted a DS.  Alas, I was denied several times and here I am with my RNY.
So far, I think that my progress is going well.  I'm sure that others are losing at a faster rate BUT...... HEY.   My mother had an RNY in 06 and she went from 296 to 138 in 11 months.  Today, she weighs 145-148.   I'm confident that I will reach my goal of 135.
Good post Elena because I saw several studies that showed that women of color lost less weight (statiscally) then our white "sisters". 

Yes I do think AA women lose slower and most times don't reach goal. I think alot of it is noncompliance with the diet. Alot of the AA women in my bariatric program tend to not track calories and have the mindset, that just because you are only eating a spoonful of potato salad 6 times a day that the calories dont add up. Let me tell you that those calories add up like crazy!

I feel that I did lose alot faster than most, hell I have even shocked my doctor. I had over 200 lbs to lose and I have lost over 180 in the past year. I feel good that I have lost more weight than some who started way before me and had just as much to lose.

By the way....I am AA myself! LOL

*My* color happens to be fish-belly white, and I think 45 pounds in 3 months is pretty good.

From the DS forum where I and a few others answered this - but it may be of interest to others.

Some studies posted on DSFacts.com:
http://www.dsfacts.com/Ethnic-differences-in-obesity-and-sur gical-weight-loss-studies.html

And a little more I found today:  this is a link to a full paper you can read:
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v15/n6/full/oby2007174a.ht ml
"There were differences in weight loss between races, with African Americans losing 12% less weight compared with whites at 1 year after GBP; African Americans and whites lost a mean total of 44 and 61 kg at 1 year after surgery, respectively. These results are similar to those found by Sugerman (18) and Latner et al. (19). One potential confounding factor in our study is the differential gender distribution between the two racial groups. However, we examined the data separately for female patients. In this subgroup analysis, African-American women lost significantly less weight than white women after 3 months (6.6% vs. 15.4% ; p < 0.001) and 1 year (26.5% vs. 38.5% ; p < 0.001) after GBP."

"Latner et al. found that African Americans and whites lost 62% and 80% of excess BMI, respectively, after GBP but African Americans consumed, overall, fewer kilocalories than whites, with no differences found in exercise frequency (19)."

"In summary, our data suggest that severely obese African Americans tend to lose less weight after GBP in comparison to whites. These differences in weight loss seem to be related to lower energy expenditure and not to dietary intake. However, despite smaller weight losses among African Americans, improvements in cardiovascular risk factors were similar between the two races."

Here's another one:

Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2006 Nov-Dec;2(6):607-10; discussion 610-2. Epub 2006 Oct 3.

Comparison of outcomes after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in African-Americans and whites.

Parikh M, Lo H, Chang C, Collings D, Fielding G, Ren C.

Source

Program for Surgical Weight Loss, Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA. [email protected]

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Race may affect outcomes after bariatric surgery. This study compares outcomes in terms of weight loss and comorbidity resolution between African-Americans and whites after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB).

METHODS:

Data from 959 patients undergoing LAGB between July 2001 and July 2004 were prospectively collected and entered into an electronic registry. Propensity score matching analysis was used to match whites to African-Americans on the basis of age, gender, and preoperative body mass index (BMI). Preoperative comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia) were also compared. Operative time (OR), length of stay (LOS), comorbidity resolution, and percent excess weight loss (%EWL) at 1, 2, and 3 years were analyzed. All data were updated through May 2006.

RESULTS:

A total of 65 white LAGB patients were matched to 58 African-American LAGB patients on the basis of age, gender, and preoperative BMI. The preoperative mean age and BMI were 37 +/- 19 years and 47 +/- 7 kg/m2, respectively. A total of 55% of the white group and 64% of the African-American group had one or more comorbidities (P = NS). Median OR time and LOS were similar in both groups: 50 minutes and 23 hours, respectively. The majority of patients in both groups had major improvement or resolution of one or more comorbidities (61% whites vs 77% African-Americans, P = NS). There was, however, a significant difference in %EWL between whites and African-Americans at each time interval (49% vs 39% at 1 year; 55% vs 44% at 2 years; 52% vs 41% at 3 years; P < .05 for all values.).

CONCLUSION:

Despite the disparity in weight loss with the LAGB in African-Americans and whites, both patient populations experienced a similar improvement/resolution of obesity-related comorbidities