title: Racial differences in the influence of female adolescents' body size on dating and sex.
abstract: This paper investigates the effect of body size on dating and sexual experiences of white (non-Hispanic) and African American (non-Hispanic) female adolescents. Using data from Add-Health, we estimate the effects of obesity and BMI z-score on the probability of having been involved in a romantic relationship, having ever been touched in the genital area in a sexual way, and having ever engaged in sexual intercourse. We find that obese white teenage girls are less likely to have been in a romantic relationship compared to their non-obese counterparts. In addition, obese white girls are less likely to ever have had sex (intercourse) or to ever have been intimate. There are no systematic differences in relationship experiences and sexual behaviors between obese and non-obese black girls. Overall, the estimated relationships are very robust to common environmental influences at the school-level and to the inclusion of proxies for low self-esteem, attitudes toward sex and interviewer assessment of appearance and personality. Instrumental variables estimates and estimates from models with lagged weight status confirm the overall patterns.
authors.affiliation: Analysis & Services Research Branch, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD 20857, USA. Electronic address: mir.ali@samhsa.hhs.gov.
authors.forename: Mir M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA; Department of Preventive Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. Electronic address: john.rizzo@stonybrook.edu.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606-3390, USA. Electronic address: aamialc@utnet.utoledo.edu.
authors.forename: Aliaksandr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amialchuk
authors.affiliation: CUNY Institute of Demographic Research, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, New York, NY 10010, USA. Electronic address: frank.heiland@baruch.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heiland
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D057545:Social Stigma; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Adolescence; Body image; I12; J10; National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health; Obesity; Sexual behavior; Z13