CARNAL NATION

A new study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine finds that self-esteem and perceived body weight significantly influence the sexual choices that teenage girls make. Based on a survey of more than 7,200 teen girls, researchers found that sexually active girls who were overweight or thought they were overweight were more likely to take such sexual risks as engaging in intercourse without condoms. They also found that sexually active girls who were either underweight or thought they were underweight exhibited similar behavior. Girls at normal weight were found to be more likely to use condoms.

The researchers, led by Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Aletha Akers, also looked at ethnicity to determine if that compounded the issue. Caucasian girls who were either underweight or perceived themselves to be so were more likely to have sex, had four or more partners, and were less likely to use counterparts than Caucasian girls at normal weight. Overweight Caucasian girls were found to be less likely to use condoms. For African-American girls, being underweight or the perception thereof correlated with less condom use while being overweight or perceiving oneself to be so correlated both with less condom use and more sexual partners. Latina girls of all weights were found to be more likely to engage in all forms of sexual risk behaviors, including lack of condom or other contraceptive use, use of drugs and alcohol before sex, engaging in sex before age 13, and having multiple sex partners.

This study adds further scientific evidence to the conventional wisdom that self-esteem correlates with behavioral choices.