Posted: Oct 31, 2008 at 1131 hrs IST
Washington, October 31: : Those who think women
scoring more on the weighing scale do not score much when it comes to
sexual behaviour certainly need a reality check, for a new study has
revealed that fat ladies have more sex than females with "normal
weight”.
Oregon and Hawaiian researchers have found that a woman’s weight does not seem to affect sexual behaviour.
Led by Dr Bliss Kaneshiro, an assistant professor at the School
of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, and Oregon State University
professor Marie Harvey, the study was based on data from the 2002
National Survey of Family Growth that looked at sexual behaviour of
more than 7,000 women.
In earlier studies it was Kaneshiro observed that obese and
overweight women have a higher risk of unintended pregnancy than do
normal weight women.
Thus, Kaneshiro studied the relationship between body mass
index and sexual behaviour, including sexual orientation, age at first
intercourse, number of partners, and frequency of intercourse.
"Our analysis demonstrated that obese and overweight women do
not differ significantly in some of the objective measures of sexual
behaviour compared to women of normal weight. This study indicates that
all women deserve diligence in counselling on unintended pregnancy and
STD prevention, regardless of body mass index," said Kaneshiro.
The study ruled out the widely held stereotypes that overweight
and obese women are not as sexually active as other women, as the
researchers concluded that it’s the opposite that is true.
"I was glad to see that the stereotype that you have to be slender to have sex is just that, a stereotype," said Harvey.
The data revealed that overweight women were more likely to
report having sexual intercourse with a man, even when she controlled
for age, race and type of residence.
In fact, 92 per cent of overweight women reported having a
history of sexual intercourse with a man, as compared to 87 per cent of
women with a normal body mass index.
"These results were unexpected and we don’t really know why this is the case," said Kaneshiro.
Kaneshiro’s study was awarded first prize at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ annual meeting this year.
The study was published in the September issue of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
