Purpose of review: This review describes research addressing sexual orientation disparities in obesity and their sequelae, with a focus on new findings from the past year and areas for future work.
Recent findings: Sexual minority people of color experience important health disparities related to obesity. Sexual minority women may be at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than their heterosexual counterparts, potentially because of obesity-related disparities. Bisexual men also appear to experience more obesity and potential greater risk for type 2 diabetes than heterosexual men. Stigma and discrimination are important emerging areas for additional research to better understand sexual orientation disparities in obesity-related health. There is a need for intersectional research and longitudinal research that connects existing sexual orientation disparities in obesity with subsequent chronic disease development. Additionally, upstream efforts to understand the impact of stigma and discrimination on the weight-related health of sexual minority groups are needed.
Keywords: Disparities; Obesity; Sexual orientation.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.