Strong, healthy, energized: Striving for a healthy weight in an older lesbian population

ABSTRACT

The Office on Women’s Health funded five pilot healthy weight intervention studies for lesbian and bisexual (LB) women, which included a program called Strong. Healthy. Energized (SHE). SHE was a 12-session program, targeted toward LB women age 60 and older, which focused on exercise, including a pedometer to track steps; nutrition; stress management; and group discussions. The program enrolled 39 participants. Waist circumference decreased by 3.7% across the group (p < .01). Participants with the lowest one-third baseline step count saw a marked step increase. This intervention was effective in improving health behaviors and short-term health outcomes for older LB women.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• healthy weight
• lesbian and bisexual women
• obesity

Funding

The publication was made possible under Contract Number HHSP223320095639WC from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health.

Disclaimer

The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office on Women’s Health, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, or the Department of Health and Human Services.

Notes

¹ Rates of unhealthy weight in bisexual women are less clear.

² The program time can be impacted by holidays, in which case the 12 sessions last longer than 12 weeks.

³ During recruiting efforts, women younger than age 60 expressed interest in the program. We allowed participants age 55+ into the SHE program.

⁴ Underlying research materials related to this article are available upon request.

⁵ For those who selected a range of three to four family members or friends who provided social support, the analysis assumed that they had three friends or family members providing support; for the range five to eight, the analysis assumed five; for the range nine+, the analysis assumed nine.

Additional information

Funding

The publication was made possible under a contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health: Contract Number: HHSP223320095639WC.