Sexual Orientation Disparities in BMI among US Adolescents and Young Adults in Three Race/Ethnicity Groups

Table 2

Sexual orientation differences in BMI^a in 7,140 female and 6,166 male adolescents and young adults in the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Waves I–IV (1995–2009).

Measure	Non-Latino white		Non-Latino black/African American		Latina/o
	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
	β (95% CI)	β (95% CI)	β (95% CI)	β (95% CI)	β (95% CI)	β (95% CI)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual	(ref)	(ref)	(ref)	(ref)	(ref)	(ref)
Mostly heterosexual	−0.05 (−0.43, 0.32), 2815	−0.13 (−10.06, 0.81), 574	0.86 (−0.003, 1.72), 704	0.37 (−1.64, 2.37), 106	0.65 (−0.27, 1.57), 566	1.09 (−1.04, 3.21), 121
Bisexual	2.32 (0.97, 3.68) ^b, 354	0.52 (−1.13, 2.17), 98	0.92 (−0.95, 2.78), 154	−1.48 (−4.08, 1.12), 30	2.37 (0.58, 4.17), 101	−1.17 (−4.89, 2.55), 38
Lesbian/gay	1.06 (−0.23, 2.35), 256	−0.94 (−1.82, −0.07), 325	1.68 (−0.15, 3.51), 153	−0.22 (−2.06, 1.63), 125	1.41 (−0.62, 3.44), 97	−0.31 (−1.66, 1.04), 155
Age^c	0.45 (0.44, 0.47)	0.46 (0.45, 0.48)	0.57 (0.55, 0.60)	0.48 (0.45, 0.50)	0.49 (0.46, 0.52)	0.53 (0.51, 0.56)
Age^2c	−0.01 (−0.01, −0.01)	−0.01 (−0.02, −0.01)	−0.01 (−0.02, −0.01)	−0.02 (−0.02, −0.01)	−0.01 (−0.02, −0.01)	−0.01 (−0.02, −0.01)
Sexual orientation × age
Heterosexual	—	(ref)	—	(ref)	—	(ref)
Mostly heterosexual	—	−0.10 (−0.15, −0.05)	—	−0.01 (−0.20, 0.17)	—	−0.14 (−0.29, 0.001)
Bisexual	—	0.17 (0.02, 0.31)	—	−0.10 (−0.35, 0.16)	—	−0.43 (−0.72, −0.15)
Gay	—	−0.12 (−0.18, −0.07)	—	−0.19 (−0.28, −0.11)	—	−0.16 (−0.26, −0.06)

aBMI was measured as kg/m².
^bSignificant effects are bolded.
^cAge and age² were centered on the mean age in the sample: 20.5 years.