Lesbian women are at greater risk of being overweight than heterosexual women, research suggests
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
Lead researcher Dr Joanna Semlyen, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: ‘We found that women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are at an increased risk of being overweight or obese, compared to heterosexual women.
‘This is worrying because being overweight and obese are known risk factors for a number of conditions including coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and early death.‘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.
‘We also found that gay men are significantly less likely than straight men to be overweight or obese.’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 hope that policymakers and clinicians will be able to use this fresh evidence to provide better healthcare and tailored advice and interventions for lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
‘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.’