Lesbians more likely to be overweight as experts find sexuality is linked to health
Lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to be overweight than heterosexual women,
research has shown for the first time, as experts said sexual identity should now be
viewed as a health risk factor.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia studied 12 British national health surveys
involving more than 93,000 people which recorded body mass index (BMI) and sexuality and
found a striking link between weight and sexual orientation.
For women, being gay increased the odds of them being overweight by 41 per cent, an increased
overall risk of 14 per cent. It means that you would expect an extra eight gay women of an
unhealthy size in every 100 compared to heterosexual women (65% compared with 57%).
Bisexual women were 24 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese, however for men the
opposite was the case,
with gay men at three times the risk of being underweight.
“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,” said lead
researcher Dr Joanna Semlyen, from the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School.
“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.
“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.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...linked-health/