Homosexual women are at greater risk of being overweight than heterosexual women, research suggests. A study of more than 90,000 British adults also found that gay men are less likely to be overweight than straight men.
The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, is the first to investigate the relationship between sexual orientation and body mass in the UK. The researchers, from the University of East Anglia, said sexual identity should be considered as a social determinant of health.
They found women identifying as lesbian were 41 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese than straight women, and bisexual women had a 24 per cent increased risk.
Gay men, meanwhile, were 28 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese than straight men. Bisexual men were no more or less likely than heterosexual men to be overweight.
The researchers, however, also found gay men were three times as likely as straight men to be clinically underweight, and bisexual men twice as likely.
Lead researcher
‘Conversely, gay and bisexual men are more likely than heterosexual men to be underweight, and there is growing evidence that being underweight is linked to a range of health problems too, including excess deaths.
She added: ‘This study demonstrates that there is a relationship between sexual identity and BMI and that this link appears to be different for men and women.’
Dr Semlyen said there are several possible explanations for the findings.
‘We know that sexual minority groups are more likely to be exposed to psychosocial stressors, which impacts on their mental health and their health behaviours such as smoking and alcohol use and which may influence their health behaviours such as diet or physical activity.
‘These stressors include homophobia and heterosexism, negative experiences that are experienced by the lesbian, bisexual and gay population as a result of their sexual orientation identity and are known to be linked to health.
‘We need longitudinal research to understand the factors underlying the relationship between sexual orientation and BMI, and research to understand more about being underweight, especially in this population.’