Overweight And Underweight Teen Girls More Likely To Have Risky Sex

Posted by: Jessica Goldberg Filed in: news
12:20PM, Tuesday November 3rd 2009

Here’s a strange study for you. Gynecology professor Aletha Akers just led a study about the sexual activity of teenage girls, surveying almost 7,200 girls about risky sexual behavior. The survey concluded that girls who are underweight, healthy weight, and overweight are equally as likely to have had sex. But apparently girls in the overweight and underweight categories are more likely to have had risky sex—they’re more likely to fail to use condoms, have sex while drinking, and to have had sex with more than four partners. Akers believes that this effect has more to do with a teenager’s self-perception than with the actual number on the scale. Women on the ends of the spectrum may feel dips in their self-esteem, which maybe leads to some of these behaviors? Also interesting, the type of unsafe sex can be predicted to a certain extent by the girl’s race. For example, overweight Caucasian girls are less likely to use condoms than Caucasians of normal weight, and African-American teenage girls who are underweight are less likely to use a rubber. Why on earth is there a difference? [Salon]

comments

Lilypie
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 12:31 pm: [report]

I agree with the self-esteem explanation. Girls who don’t feel good about themselves and their bodies may just be grateful that a guy is paying attention to them and could be less likely to make any demands about the details.

CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 12:32 pm: [report]

Pedobear thanks you for this information.

H. Blue
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 12:54 pm: [report]

As for why there’s a difference between races- caucasians are more accepted being thin, and I think African-Americans are more accepting to a “thick” body type. So the opposites would be the girls with the lower self-esteem.

equnsuocha
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 01:07 pm: [report]

What a shocker that girls who are told they are ugly or wrong everyday by fashion magazines and society would be more likely to equate sex with love and thus more promiscuous. This is ground breaking news.

Frederica Bimble
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 01:09 pm: [report]

This isn’t “news” - underweight/overweight - it all points to low self-esteem and those with low self-esteem are going to be more quick to try to “please others” and that goes hand in hand with not protecting their own bodies.
In all my years on this earth, I have realised that one can churn out the same article over and over or even shuffle a few stats and words around on one’s research, publish it and one will never have to worry about running out of “new” things to report on…....

Ninjanimator
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 01:38 pm: [report]

Hah! Lookit Cheese bringing ‘Chan ideas onto The Frisky. Anonymous is always watching.

tubbyhumptydance
wrote on November 3 2009 @ 07:45 pm: [report]

Pedobear thanks you for this information.

Note to self, when looking to bareback college girls, look for the overly skinny or curvy.

Frederica Bimble
wrote on November 5 2009 @ 12:31 pm: [report]

tubbyhumptydance: Nice troll comment! “bareback” a stranger? Really?
I’m so bored, I can’t even consider listing all the reasons why that is stupid. You do realise that you only have ONE dick and if you ruin it, say, by contracting a disease that penicillin doesn’t cure, then you only have yourself to blame.
If you can’t protect your own body, then you ought to re-consider whether you’re mature enough to even have sex.

Wow. Oh, and by the way, you’re not “winding up” anyone else by the troll comment. You’re just making yourself look inexperienced from a sex stand-point.
A good sex partner PROTECTS THEMSELVES. Remember that, you won’t be young and silly forever and maybe one day, you may want a family. Some of the STDs out there have no symptoms but can sterilise you.

I have done you a favour. Now educate yourself.

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