On the way home from work I was listening to a the radio when I thought to myself "my time could probably be better spent, maybe I should peruse the AM dial and see if I can find a story for my next assignment." After scanning the dial for a few minutes and hearing several news reports, I stumbled upon a radio show hosted by two guys who were talking about a report from The Washington Free Beacon. The piece was about how the National Institute of Health (NIH) was awarded almost a half a million dollar grant to perform a study as to why obese adolescent girls have a hard time getting dates. At first, I found this story to be a little silly but I was also intrigued to read about some of the findings of the study. After reading the article, I realized that the title of may have a little misleading. The article was no so much about dating as it was about the sexual behavior of obese vs. non-obese adolescent girls.
The NIH claims that overwhelming evidence proves that "obese adolescent girls engage in more sexual risk taking behaviors compared to non-obese girls." Not using a condom would be an example. The purpose for the additional funding and study is to attempt to get behind why this is. These studies have been overseen by Dr. Aletha Akers, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Magee-Womens Research Institute. These are not the only funds she has received. Between 2011 and 2012, Akers received $359.417 to study how an adolescent’s weight affects their sexual behavior. I question the facts she was able to gain or not gain from the initial study that warranted additional government funds. The NIH claims that the reason this is beneficial to public health is because "the results could be used for sexual risk-reduction interventions and sexual negotiation skills building programs."
I applaud Akers' argument that these studies will be able to help explain why obese adolescents may have a higher rate of sexual risk taking than non obese girls. Hopefully she will do some good with the results of the study. Especially in a world that continues to objectify women and encourage promiscuity and immorality. However, I do not think the federal government should be spending money on them. For one, this in not government's place. Two, with the national deficit sky-rocketing, I think we would be better served by not spending money on these types of studies. If this exists, what other types of things out there are being funded by federal resources and how many of them could be eliminated?
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