Studies are found that African American women are more satisfied with their weight emotionally when compared to other women with regard to quality of life. However, black women are dissatisfied about their weight because of the limitations it poses in physical activities. The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Tiffany L. Cox. The team belongs to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The study also showed that the psychological repercussions of obesity are lower in black women than in white women. Obesity has a number of undesirable repercussions on a person. Besides causing major health concerns such as increased risk of cardiac attacks, strokes and cholesterol, obesity also has an impact on quality of life. In the United States, obesity among African American women is a major concern since more than 80% of them above twenty years of age are obese. Obesity is calculated in terms of body mass index, which depends on the height and weight of a person. When the ratio between these aspects is greater than 25, a person is said to be obese.

In the study, a total of 343 women were considered, among whom 172 were black and the rest were white. Studies were carried on regarding the relation between quality of life and the body mass index. Five aspects of life which are indicators of quality were considered for the study. They are self esteem, public distress, work, sexual life and physical function. Questionnaires which included different questions which focused on these topics were provided to all the women and results were studied. It was found that as the level of obesity increased, the quality of life registered a sharp decline.

Interestingly, there were differences between the results of white and black women. It was found that the quality of life owing to obesity suffered greatly in white women when compared to their black counterparts. It was also found that this finding was consistent in black and white women who had the same weight. Self esteem, which is a major indicator of quality of life, was found to be higher in black women who were obese compared to the white women of same weight. The authors of the study said that social norms that exist in the society can have a say in the way black women accept their obesity since they are generally accepted as having larger bodies. However, this can have a bad effect on the body the social acceptance of large sizes does not make them interested in losing weight.