title: Aging, Weight, and Health Among Adult Lesbian and Bisexual Women: A Metasynthesis of the Multisite "Healthy Weight Initiative" Focus Groups.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adult lesbian and bisexual (LB) women are more likely to be obese than adult heterosexual women. Achieving a healthy weight reduces health risks and improves quality of life, but the evidence based on successful weight interventions is limited. To inform a national initiative, a metasynthesis (a form of qualitative meta-analysis) of focus group data was conducted to gather lesbian and bisexual womens' perspectives.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis used de-identified transcripts and narrative reports from 11 focus groups guided by different semi-structured discussion guides with 65 participants from five locations. A literature search was conducted to identify existing themes in published literature and unpublished reports.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six key themes were identified: aging; physical and mental health status; community norms; subgroup differences; family and partner support; and awareness and tracking of diet and physical activity. Participants expressed feeling unprepared for age-related changes to their health and voiced interest in interventions addressing these issues. Their perspectives on community acceptance of body size shifted as they aged. Participants cited age, class, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, and gender expression as potential characteristics that may influence participation in interventions. Families were both a barrier to and a facilitator of health behaviors. Awareness and tracking of dietary habits, stressors, and physical activity levels emerged as a theme in more than half of the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An unsolicited, overarching theme was aging and its influence on the participants' perspectives on health and weight. Interventions should be tailored to the needs, goals, and community norms of LB women.
authors.affiliation: 1 Research & Evaluation Unit, Public Health Solutions , New York, New York.|2 Heilbrunn Department of Population & Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garbers
authors.affiliation: 3 The CDM Group, Bethesda , Maryland.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McDonnell
authors.affiliation: 4 School of Nursing, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Sarah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Fogel
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Health Education, San Francisco State University , San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eliason
authors.affiliation: 6 Lyon-Martin Health Services , San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ingraham
authors.affiliation: 7 Department of Community & Family Medicine, University of Missouri , Columbia, Missouri.
authors.forename: Jane A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.affiliation: 8 Department of Medicine, New York University , New York, New York.|9 Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radix
authors.affiliation: 10 Office on Women's Health , U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Washington, D.C.
authors.forename: Suzanne G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Haynes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: aging; bisexual; health promotion; lesbian; obesity; weight