Obesity among sexually abused women: An adaptive function for some?

In an attempt to explore the possibly adaptive function obesity may serve f or some women with histories of sexual trauma, we examined relationships am ong sexual abuse history, body dissatisfaction, and maximum weight fluctuat ion among obese (n = 38; Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 27.3) and nonobese (n = 112; Body Mass Index < 27.3) women sampled from a primary ca re medical setting. History of sexual abuse was unrelated to current body w eight within the entire sample, as well as the nonobese and the obese subsa mples. However, the interaction between obesity and sexual abuse was statis tically significant in the prediction of both current/ideal body-weight dis crepancy (i.e., body dissatisfaction) and maximum weight fluctuation during adulthood. Among nonobese women, history of sexual abuse was unrelated to current body dissatisfaction but was related to greater maximal weight fluc tuation during adulthood. Among obese women, those with a history of sexual abuse reported relatively less current body dissatisfaction and less weigh t fluctuation during adulthood compared to nonsexually-abused obese women. Results are discussed with regard to the potential adaptive function obesit y may play for some sexually abused women and the need for additional resea rch using larger, more diverse samples and more elaborate measures.