News Release

Study Confirms Girls' Belief: More Fat Means Fewer Dates

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL - Concerns about how adolescent girls react to normal weight gains prompted University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers to look at the real-life implications of body fat for dating and sexual activity.

The scientists did it by going straight to the sources.

Virtually all girls asked saw physical attractiveness as important, and four out of five reported that having a boyfriend was either somewhat or very important, according to Dr. Carolyn Halpern, assistant professor of maternal and child health at the UNC-CH School of Public Health.

Differences in body fat had significant implications for dating, an activity most girls value. "For white girls in general and for black girls of higher economic status, more body fat was strongly associated with not dating," Halpern said. "This was true even among non-obese girls."

Not only was more fat a disadvantage for getting dates, but below average fat was a significant advantage, the researchers found, she said. A girl of average height and weight, who is 5 feet and 3 inches tall and weighs 126 pounds, is only half as likely to date as a girl of the same height and physical maturity who weighs a below-average 110 pounds. "One reason adolescent girls are concerned about their weight is that they believe that being slim increases their chances of dating. Our data indicate they are right."

As expected, the more a subject dated, the more likely she was to become sexually active. After controlling for the amount of dating, however, weight seemed to have little effect on whether girls had sex.

A report on the research will appear in the May issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. Besides Halpern, authors are Drs. J. Richard Udry and Chirayath Suchindran, Kenan professor of maternal and child health and sociology and professor of biostatistics, respectively, both at UNC-CH, and Dr. Benjamin Campbell of Boston University.

Researchers followed 200 white and black girls, aged 13 and 14, from a central North Carolina county for two years. Every six months, subjects filled out confidential questionnaires about dieting, weight concerns, dating, sexual activity - if any - and other matters. Investigators measured the girls' body fat using tests of skin-fold thickness at four body sites.

On average, black girls were heavier than white girls but were less concerned about their weight, she said. However, actual body fat was the most important predictor of dieting and weight concerns for both blacks and whites. About 10 percent of whites and 30 percent of blacks in the sample were obese.

"On the one hand, you can argue that it's psychologically healthy for black girls to be comfortable with their bodies and with the normal physical changes that are taking place in their bodies," Halpern said. "The flip side is that acceptance of real obesity can result in significant health problems later in life. Ideally, we need to encourage girls to use healthy weight control practices that minimize obesity, but also avoid contributing to weight concerns that could result in eating disorders. And as our data show, the attitudes of adolescent boys are a factor in this process."

Earlier studies have shown that people who are obese during adolescence are less likely as adults to marry, complete fewer years of education and earn less money. They also face higher risks of heart disease, stroke and joint problems such as arthritis.

One strength of the new work was that unlike much earlier research on adolescent weight concerns, the UNC-CH investigation included black as well as white teen-agers, Halpern said. Another strength was that it included subjects' actual weights and body fat levels, not just how they felt about excess fat.

Another contribution of the study was that it followed the same group of girls over time, and results indicated that dating and sexual activity did not appear to worsen weight concerns and dieting. This possibility had been suggested by earlier studies using measures collected at a single time.

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Note: Halpern, who has two offices, can be reached at 919-966-6873 or 966-4462 for a copy of the paper and for more information.



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