Posted on 04/27/2007 1:22:53 PM PDT by Incorrigible
From correspondents in the US
April 28, 2007
LESBIANS are twice as likely as heterosexual women to be overweight or obese, which puts them at greater risk for obesity-related health problems and death, US researchers said.
The report, published in the American Journal of Public Health, is one of the first large studies to look at obesity among lesbians.
Ulrike Boehmer of the Boston University School of Public Health and colleagues looked at a 2002 national survey of almost 6000 women, and found that lesbians were 2.69 times more likely to be overweight and 2.47 times more likely to be obese.
Lesbians have more than twice the odds of (being) overweight, the authors wrote.
This would put them at a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease, among other ailments.
Our findings indicate that lesbian sexual identity is linked to a greater prevalence of overweight and obesity, the authors wrote in the study, released this week.
They reviewed smaller studies that have suggested a higher prevalence of obesity among lesbians and the possible reasons why.
The results of these studies indicate that lesbian women have a better body image than do heterosexual women, they wrote.
But the authors said they placed little confidence in the idea that lesbians were more muscular than straight women, and thus were more likely to have a high body mass index, or BMI, while having little body fat.
High muscle mass is unlikely to lead to classification as obese, the researchers said.
We reported greater odds of both overweight and obesity in lesbians and we feel confident in asserting that these differences are a result of increased adiposity, the researchers wrote.
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So lesbians are overweight but still have a better body image than straight women. Something tells me this isn't the only cognitive dissonance experienced by this community.
Yep, lesbians rarely look like the ones on The L Word.
CORRECTION: Obese women, twice as likely to be lesbians.
Didn’t know tuna was fattening.
Must be the tacos.
How about- “most fat chicks can’t land a man.”
Some morons are completely stumped by the whole cause/effect relationship.
If I saw some wrestling naked... I could make a more informed opinion.
I suspect it’s a reaction to flannel.
I find this result unsurprising. Homosexuality in women is strongly correlated with childhood/adolescent sexual abuse, and so is overeating: as a coping mechanism to deal with depression and “hide” from potential abusers.
must be the pie...
It’s all that eating.
/had to be done.
You are what you eat!
< /sarcasm>
But it doesn’t have any calories...
“If I saw some wrestling naked... I could make a more informed opinion.”
OK, I’ll line up Rosie O’Donnel. Do you have Hillary’s phone number?
Who knew?
This has to go in the waste of grant money study zone.
Obese and health risks are an issue regardless of who it is.
I was going to say “IBTRP” but as usual I am late again.
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