The federal government spent millions of dollars in recent years researching why lesbians have a higher obesity rate than heterosexual women and gay men, according to funding records.
The ongoing National Institutes of Health study, now in its fourth year and scheduled to last another two, has cost about $3 million to date, the Washington Free Beacon reported in a recent article.
A summary of the research project said that nearly three-quarters of lesbians are overweight or obese. The rate is 25 percent higher than heterosexual females and almost double the obesity risk of gay men, the summary said.
The researchers, led by an epidemiologist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, have already concluded that lower athletic self-esteem among lesbians may lead to higher rates of obesity and that lesbians are more likely to see themselves at a healthy weight when they are not, according to the Free Beacon report.
Researchers have also determined that gay and bisexual males had a greater desire for toned muscles than straight men. This apparently helps explain why gay men are generally more fit than lesbians.
