Abstract
Sexual minority adolescents are more likely to have obesity compared to their heterosexual peers, but little is known about potential contributors to this disparity that lie outside of individual-level health behaviors, such as diet and exercise. One possible contributor is school violence victimization, a factor associated with overweight/obesity in adolescence. Another possible contributor is school climate, which is associated with feelings of safety and connectedness that can lower the likelihood of school violence victimization. Moreover, even less is known about relationships among all these factors among sexual minority adolescents. This gap in the literature was addressed by analyzing CDC’s district-level data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and School Health Profiles (N = 60,625; 50.9% female, Mage = 16 years, 84.7% heterosexual, 15.3% sexual minority). Using multilevel mixed effects logistic regression models and controlling for covariates, it was found that among females and males, those with 2+ counts of last 12-month school violence victimization had higher odds of obesity than those with no school violence victimization (AOR = 1.33; AOR = 1.24). Furthermore, females and males in more positive LGBTQ school climates had lower odds of obesity than those in less positive school climates (AOR = 0.84; AOR = 0.85). There were no sexual identity differences in these models. Findings support the careful consideration of school violence victimization and LGBTQ school climate in future obesity prevention initiatives.
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Data Sharing and Declaration
The datasets analyzed in the current study are made publicly available by the CDC. YRBS data can be downloaded from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/results.htm. SHP data can be downloaded from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/results.htm.
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Dr. Ancheta would like to acknowledge that the work performed for this manuscript was conducted at the Columbia University School of Nursing.
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A.J.A.’s work was supported by an Individual Predoctoral Fellowship funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) (F31NR019432). NINR had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper.
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A.J.A. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. T.L.H. participated in study design, interpretation of the data, and helped draft the manuscript. J.L. participated in study design and performed statistical analysis. S.T.R. helped with interpretation of the data and helped draft the manuscript. J.-M.B. participated in study design, interpretation of data, and helped draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ancheta, A.J., Hughes, T.L., Liu, J. et al. Interpersonal- and Community-Level Risk Factors for Adolescent Obesity: An Examination of Sexual Identity, School Violence, and School Climate in a Large Sample of Urban Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 52, 1566–1581 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01774-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01774-x