Abstract
Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents' sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Young Adult Survey in 2000 or 2002. Nearly even numbers of these participants identified as white and black (183 and 157, respectively). We find that compared to their non-obese white peers, obese white adolescent girls exhibit higher rates of multiple sex partners and sex with older partners, and are also less likely to use condoms. None of these factors are significantly related to high BMI within the black sample. These findings indicate that the negative social consequences of obesity extend beyond future economic and marriage outcomes to adolescent white women's sexual outcomes. They also highlight the importance of context: the implications of being obese during adolescence depend on cultural meanings of obesity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 41-52 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Youth and Adolescence |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2012 |
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Keywords
- Adolescent health
- Consequences of obesity
- Obesity
- Obesity stigma
- Risky sexual behavior
- Weight-based stigma
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Risky Sexual Behavior : A Race-specific Social Consequence of Obesity. / Leech, Tamara; Dias, Janice Johnson.
In: Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 41, No. 1, 01.01.2012, p. 41-52.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Risky Sexual Behavior
T2 - A Race-specific Social Consequence of Obesity
AU - Leech, Tamara
AU - Dias, Janice Johnson
PY - 2012/1/1
Y1 - 2012/1/1
N2 - Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents' sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Young Adult Survey in 2000 or 2002. Nearly even numbers of these participants identified as white and black (183 and 157, respectively). We find that compared to their non-obese white peers, obese white adolescent girls exhibit higher rates of multiple sex partners and sex with older partners, and are also less likely to use condoms. None of these factors are significantly related to high BMI within the black sample. These findings indicate that the negative social consequences of obesity extend beyond future economic and marriage outcomes to adolescent white women's sexual outcomes. They also highlight the importance of context: the implications of being obese during adolescence depend on cultural meanings of obesity.
AB - Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents' sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Young Adult Survey in 2000 or 2002. Nearly even numbers of these participants identified as white and black (183 and 157, respectively). We find that compared to their non-obese white peers, obese white adolescent girls exhibit higher rates of multiple sex partners and sex with older partners, and are also less likely to use condoms. None of these factors are significantly related to high BMI within the black sample. These findings indicate that the negative social consequences of obesity extend beyond future economic and marriage outcomes to adolescent white women's sexual outcomes. They also highlight the importance of context: the implications of being obese during adolescence depend on cultural meanings of obesity.
KW - Adolescent health
KW - Consequences of obesity
KW - Obesity
KW - Obesity stigma
KW - Risky sexual behavior
KW - Weight-based stigma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84155195786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10964-011-9670-6
DO - 10.1007/s10964-011-9670-6
M3 - Article
VL - 41
SP - 41
EP - 52
JO - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
JF - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
SN - 0047-2891
IS - 1
ER -