LGBT youth are more likely to engage in cancer-causing behavior, a recent study led by Margaret Rosario, a psychology professor of the City College of New York, found.
The researchers derived their study details from the data collected on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted between 2005 and 2007. A national survey conducted biennially on high school students, the poll found that students belonging to the sexual minority represented 7.6 percent of the 65,871 students included in the review.
Rosario and her team primarily focused on the prevalence of 12 cancer-related behaviors in LGBT as well as heterosexual youth. These behaviors included tobacco use, alcohol consumption, early sex, multiple sexual partners, higher body mass index (BMI) and a lack of exercise, among others.
In each case, the researchers found that LGBT youth were more likely to be involved in the behavior when compared to their heterosexual peers.
"Sexual minorities are at risk for cancer later in life, I suggest, from a host of behaviors that began relatively early in life," said Rosario in a news release. "No sex or ethnic racial group is at greater risk or protected for these behaviors."
However, as the researchers noted in the study, more research is still needed on the subject.
"Data on cancer risk, morbidity, and mortality by sexual orientation are needed to track the potential but unknown burden of cancer among sexual minorities."
