An interesting study by the University of Pittsburgh published in the November issue of Pediatrics found a link between teen girls' body weight (actual and perceived) and their likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors. These included having intercourse before turning 13, having sex with more than four partners, consuming alcohol in connection with sex, and having unprotected sex.  The study surveyed 7,200 high school girls, with half reporting that they had ever had sex.

Some key points:

• Caucasian girls who believed they were underweight were more likely to have had sex and to have had four or more sexual partners than girls who considered themselves at a normal weight.
• Caucasian girls who were actually overweight were less likely to use condoms.
• African-American girls who were underweight were less likely to use condoms than those of normal weight, and overweight African-American girls were more likely to report four or more sexual partners.
• Latina girls of all weights were more likely to engage in a wide variety of risky sexual behaviors, from lack of condom use and sex before age 13 to having more than four sexual partners during their teens and using alcohol.