Lesbian women are 41% more likely to be obese than their straight counterparts

Lesbians are more likely to be overweight than straight women ‘because of stress’, study claims (but gay men are in better shape than heterosexuals) But gay men are 28% less likely to be overweight or obese than straight males  Gay men are  three times as likely as straight males to be clinically underweight Researchers want sexual orientation to be social determinant of health 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 10:42 GMT, 21 February 2019 | Updated: 10:48 GMT, 21 February 2019

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Lesbian women are at greater risk of being overweight than heterosexual women, research suggests.

A study of more than 90,000 British adults also that found gay men are less likely to be overweight than straight men.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, is the first to investigate the relationship between sexual orientation and body mass in the UK.

Lesbian women are at greater risk of being overweight than heterosexual women (stock)

Lesbian women are at greater risk of being overweight than heterosexual women (stock)

The researchers, from the University of East Anglia, said sexual identity should be considered as a social determinant of health. 

They found women identifying as lesbian were 41 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese than straight women, and bisexual women had a 24 per cent increased risk.

Gay men, meanwhile, were 28 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese than straight men. Bisexual men were no more or less likely than heterosexual men to be overweight.

The researchers, however, also found gay men were three times as likely as straight men to be clinically underweight, and bisexual men twice as likely.

Lead researcher Dr Joanna Semlyen, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: ‘We found that women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are at an increased risk of being overweight or obese, compared to heterosexual women.

‘This is worrying because being overweight and obese are known risk factors for a number of conditions including coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and early death.

‘Conversely, gay and bisexual men are more likely than heterosexual men to be underweight, and there is growing evidence that being underweight is linked to a range of health problems too, including excess deaths.

‘We also found that gay men are significantly less likely than straight men to be overweight or obese.’

She added: ‘This study demonstrates that there is a relationship between sexual identity and BMI and that

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