Details:

Alternative Title:
Obesity (Silver Spring)
Personal Author:
Johns, Michelle Marie ; Lowry, Richard ; Demissie, Zewditu ; Robin, Leah
Johns, Michelle Marie ; Lowry, Richard ; Demissie, Zewditu ; Robin, Leah Less -
Description:
Objective

Sexual minority girls (lesbian/bisexual) and girls with overweight/obesity experience high rates of discrimination and mental distress. This study explored whether BMI or perceived weight status might compound sexual minority girls’ risk for harassment and mental distress.

Methods

Data on female students from the national 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 7,006) were analyzed. Logistic regression was used to examine differences in bullying, harassment, and mental distress across sexual identity/BMI groups: heterosexual/normal-weight, heterosexual/overweight, sexual minority/normal-weight, and sexual minority/overweight. Procedures were repeated with four analogous groups created from sexual identity and perceived weight.

Results

Across sexual identity/BMI groups, being overweight increased heterosexual females’ odds of being bullied or experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Regardless of weight status, sexual minority females had greater odds for each outcome than heterosexual females. Sexual minority females who perceived themselves as overweight had greater odds of suicidality than all other sexual minority/perceived weight groups.

Conclusions

Double jeopardy may exist for sexual minority female students who perceive themselves as overweight. Professional development with school staff on how to create a positive climate for sexual minorities and those with overweight/obesity and addressing positive identity and body image within school-based suicide prevention efforts may be important to the well-being of adolescent girls.


Subject:
[+]
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior
Article
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Bisexuality
Body Image
Body Mass Index
Body Weight
Bullying
Cluster Analysis
Female
Health Behavior
Homosexuality, Female
Humans
Mental Disorders
Minority Groups
Obesity
Overweight
Prevalence
Students
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide
Surveys And Questionnaires

Source:
Obesity (Silver Spring). 25(8):1421-1427
Pubmed ID:
28494125
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC5572140
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:2d11e3e6a1690e352c0e1fa62468e6e288f62eedb396ffa72d449c9cbd72a0fd
File Type:

Supporting Files

• nihms898531.nxml

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