Sexual fluidity and BMI, obesity, and physical activity

Citation

Fricke, Julie & Sironi, Maria (2020). Sexual fluidity and BMI, obesity, and physical activity. SSM - Population Health. vol. 11 , PMCID: PMC7330605

Abstract

Analyzing reported changes in sexual identity over time is necessary for understanding young adult health risks. Utilizing waves 3 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this paper studies the relationships between sexual identity changes and BMI, obesity, and physical activity among young adults in the U.S (N = 11,349). The results show that men who report a change toward a more homosexual identity have a significantly lower BMI and participate in more physical activity, while men who report a change toward a more heterosexual identity participate in less physical activity and have a higher BMI compared to those who did not report a change. For women, a change toward a more homosexual identity is significantly associated with more physical activity and lower odds of being obese compared to no change. The results suggest that specific sexual identity changes may also be linked to improvements in health.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100620

Keyword(s)

Sexual identity

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

SSM - Population Health

Author(s)

Fricke, Julie
Sironi, Maria

Year Published

2020

Volume Number

11

ISSN/ISBN

2352-8273

DOI

10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100620

PMCID

PMC7330605

Reference ID

6201