Body size and weight, and the nutrition and activity behaviours of sexual and gender minority youth: Findings and implications from New Zealand

M.F.G. Lucassen, A.M. Guntupalli, Terryann Clark, J. Fenaughty, S. Denny, Theresa Fleming, Melody Smith, J. Utter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective:
To describe the body size and weight, and the nutrition and activity behaviours of sexual and gender minority (SGM) students and compare them with those of exclusively opposite-sex-attracted cisgender students. Male and female SGM students were also compared.

Design:
Data were from a nationally representative health survey.

Setting:
Secondary schools in New Zealand, 2012.

Participants:
A total of 7769 students, 9 % were SGM individuals.

Results:
Overall, weight-control behaviours, poor nutrition and inactivity were common and, in many cases, more so for SGM students. Specifically, male SGM students (adjusted OR; 95 % CI) were significantly more likely to have tried to lose weight (1·95; 1·47, 2·59), engage in unhealthy weight control (2·17; 1·48, 3·19), consume fast food/takeaways (2·89; 2·01, 4·15) and be physically inactive (2·54; 1·65, 3·92), and were less likely to participate in a school sports team (0·57; 0·44, 0·75), compared with other males. Female SGM students (adjusted OR; 95 % CI) were significantly more likely to engage in unhealthy weight control (1·58; 1·20, 2·08), be overweight or obese (1·24; 1·01, 1·53) and consume fast food/takeaways (2·19; 1·59, 3·03), and were less likely to participate in a school sports team (0·62; 0·50, 0·76), compared with other females. Generally, female SGM students were more negatively affected than comparable males, except they were less likely to consume fast food/takeaways frequently (adjusted OR; 95 % CI: 0·62; 0·40, 0·96).

Conclusions:
SGM students reported increased weight-control behaviours, poor nutrition and inactivity. Professionals, including public health nutritionists, must recognize and help to address the challenges facing sexual and gender minorities.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2346-2356
Number of pages11
JournalPublic Health Nutrition
Volume22
Issue number13
Early online date4 Jun 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2019

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the schools and students that participated in Youth’12. They would also like to thank Kylie Sutcliffe for her feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. Financial support: Youth’12 was funded by the Ministries of Youth Development, Social Development, Health, Education,
Justice; the Department of Labour, Families Commission; and the Alcohol Advisory Council. The authors also acknowledge Toshiba (Australia) Pty. Limited. M.S. is supported by a Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRCNZ) Sir Charles Hercus Research Fellowship (grant number 17/013). The HRCNZ and the funders of Youth’12 had no role in the design, analysis or writing of
this article. Conflict of interest: None. Authorship: M.F.G.L. and A.M.G. conceived the study and conducted the analyses. M.F.G.L. drafted the manuscript. T.C., J.F.,
S.D., T.F., M.S. and J.U. participated in the conception and design of the study and its analyses, and together with A.M.G. assisted M.F.G.L. to draft the paper. T.C. was the principal investigator for the Youth’12 project and S.D., T.F. and J.U. were co-investigators. Ethics of human subject participation: All procedures performed in our study involving student participants were in accordance with
the ethical standards of the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics committee. Informed consent was obtained from the principal of each participating school as well as from all participating students.

Keywords

  • adolescent
  • lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
  • exercise
  • eating disorders
  • obesity

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