title: Overweight and obesity in long-term breast cancer survivors: how does sexual orientation impact BMI?
abstract: In noncancer populations lesbians have greater odds of obesity compared with heterosexual women, suggesting a similar pattern among cancer survivors. Weight of cancer survivors is an important area of study because obesity is associated with an increased risk of recurrence and shorter survival. Sixty-nine lesbian and bisexual and 257 heterosexual survivors of breast cancer were recruited to participate in a one-time telephone survey. Multinomial logit models do not support disparities in obesity due to sexual orientation. Our findings in breast cancer survivors suggest that lesbians are more likely to improve their weight-related behaviors after cancer than heterosexual women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. boehmer@bu.edu
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Boehmer
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mertz
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Timm
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Glickman
authors.forename: Mairead
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Potter
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*