CDC: Gay Teens Face Health Risks

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/06/06/CDC_Gay_Teens_Face_Wide_Range_of_Health_Risks/

It should be little surprise anymore that gay high school students face greater risks to their well-being than straight classmates. But the severe degree of risk these students face has authorities “very concerned” about the “dramatic disparities” found in a lengthy study released today from the federal government.

The analysis, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluded that gay youth are at increased risk not only for suicide but also for seven out of the 10 health dangers it tracks.

"This report should be a wake-up call,” Howell Weschsler, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, said in a news release. "We are very concerned that these students face such dramatic disparities for so many different health risks."

Of straight students, the CDC found that 8% to 19% are cigarette smokers. The percentage for gay and lesbian students varied from 20% to 48% among depending on the location surveyed. The story is much the same for violence, binge drinking, drug use, and even weight problems.

Bisexual students are often at highest risk. Binge drinking, for example, was a problem for 15.9% to 44.4% of straight students and for 17.3% to 44.4% of gay students, but it hit 33% to 63.3% of bisexual students.

[w8liftinglady]

1. in Texas, the teens in my area are forbidden to even speak of these things.

My partner offered to counsel lgbt kids at his school to no avail. it is a non-issue.