There are more factors involved in weight management than calories and exercise. In fact, exercise in itself is a rather minor factor--people can't exercise their way out of a poor diet...and "diet" involves more than total calories.
Hormones are the keys of weight management. Not just calorie count, but also the macro nutrients themselves: A fat calorie is not a protein calorie is not a carbohydrate calorie...the body treats them differently. Any study that does not account for the factors that cause hormonal changes is an incomplete study.
A major factor is eating while under stress. Stress increases cortisol hormone levels. The purpose of cortisol is to prepare the body for fight or flight.
The body is not designed to be prepared for stress (high cortisol levels) and then just sit on its butt. The body is designed to be active, in motion, running or fighting, when cortisol levels are high.
Eating, OTOH, spikes insulin production. The purpose of insulin is to prepare the body to take in nutrition to recover from stressful activity. The body should be relaxed while eating.
The body is not designed to consume calories--increasing insulin production--while cortisol levels are high from stress. The result of that mixture, along with the calories themselves and being sedentary, promotes weight increase.
And the macronutrients themselves--beyond the calories--also evoke hormonal reactions. Simple carbohydrates spike insulin production, while fats hardly move insulin levels at all.
Frequency of eating--beyond the calories themselves--also evoke hormonal reactions. Insulin spikes for about two hours after ingesting carbohydrates (including sodas and sweetened coffees). If someone is ingesting carbohydrates every two hours--as people tend to do these days--that forces insulin levels to stay high all day long.
Time of day also evokes hormonal reactions, with cortisol levels being naturally higher in the morning (that's what wakes you up). If a person then eats simple carbohydrates for breakfast (like a donut), that spikes insulin again at the same time cortisol levels are high.
Back in the 60s, both work and school tended to preclude eating between meals. There were no vending machines in the schools, there was only a water fountain until lunch and only water after lunch. There were no breakrooms in the officer, there was only the water cooler in the hall. And eating at the desk was forbidden in both the school and the office.
What may be true is that African-Americans may be genetically more prone to insulin resistance, which means black people must more attention to limiting simple carbohydrates...which one of the big differences in our diets between now and earlier decades. We eat far more simple carbohydrates today than we ate 50 years ago and earlier.
Black women are certainly not under more stress now that in earlier decades, but they certainly have more opportunity to eat--particularly simple carbohydrates--while stressed...eating on the job, eating at the desk. Even if they reduce calories, the body's hormonal reaction to the conditions will lead to weight retention and even gain.
The worst thing to do while stressed is to eat. The body is not designed to eat while stressed. When fighting one's demons, the best thing is what Jesus prescribed: Fasting and prayer. Skip that snack and meditate.
The difference in the quality of the food is a whole other subject. Suffice it to say that in the 60s most food was practically organic compared to most food today. Even a hamburger from the local (usually local) grill was almost certainly going to be locally sourced grass-fed beef.
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