Researchers Find Link Between Perceived Body Weight And Sex Habits

Nov 02, 2009 • Research

The November issue of Pediatrics is reporting on some studies done by researchers at the University of Pittsburg on teen girls’ body weights, perceived body weights and sexual habits. This is what they found:

teenCaucasian girls who thought they were underweight — whether they actually were or not — were more likely to have had sex and to have had four or more sexual partners than those who thought their weight was normal. Caucasian girls who were truly overweight were less likely to use condoms.

Underweight African-American girls were less likely to use condoms than those of normal weight, and overweight African-American girls were more likely to report four or more sexual partners.

Latina girls of all weights were more likely to engage in a wide variety of risky sexual behaviors, from lack of condom use and sex before age 13 to having more than four sexual partners during their teens and using alcohol.

Read the whole study.

Image from wikiHowl. Information via The Washington Post.