Ethnic minorities and weight control research priorities: where are we now and where do we need to be?

Within the overall obesity epidemic, the burden of obesity and related health problems is particularly high among African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, and Pacific Islanders--both children and adults. The often asked question of what types of obesity interventions work in these populations reflects uncertainty about how applicable standard interventions are to diverse socio-cultural groups and socio-environmental contexts. A meta-analysis in this issue of Preventive Medicine (Seo and Sa, 2008. A meta-analysis of psycho-behavioral obesity interventions among US multiethnic and minority adults) includes selected multi-ethnic and minority-focused studies that in total had 40% minority participants. Although the authors' conclusions were congruent with current general guidance for weight loss programs, insights about how to intervene with minority populations were limited by the small amount and nature of the available evidence. Ethnic minorities in the aggregate are now a third of the U.S. population. We should be purposeful in identifying research needs and quality standards for conducting and reporting studies with these populations and in motivating related research. Improving the relevance to and quality of evidence on obesity prevention and treatment for a more diverse set of populations will also improve the weight control literature as a whole.