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Young lesbian women's health and wellbeing in New Zealand

Women's Health Update, Vol 15 No. 2 May 2011
Research within Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally suggests that young lesbian‐identified women are over represented in negative health statistics. Young adult lesbian‐identified women aged 18 - 24 years (considered ‘youth', ‘post‐school age' and sometimes ‘pre‐adult') also comprise a particularly under researched group. Furthermore, evidence indicates young lesbians have higher uptake of behaviours that are injurious to health and engage with unique health and wellbeing issues and strengths (Dibble & Robertson, 2010; Kaminski, 2000; Myers & Lavender, 1997). In this article Katie Palmer, a doctoral student at Auckland University of Technology, presents a brief overview of some health issues for young lesbian women, as well as an indication of gaps in our research knowledge base. She argues that lesbian specific research is needed to continue to address a broader neglect and marginalisation of both lesbian experience and gender analysis that has even been identified within research and theory that is seen to be gay‐positive (Kitzinger & Coyle, 2002). Lesbian health research is also recommended as part of a disaggregation of lesbian‐and‐gay and lesbian‐bisexual‐women who have sex with women (WSW) health research in order that the full range of needs and concerns of women can be explored and addressed (Kitzinger & Coyle, 2002; Wilkinson, 2002). Read the full article on 'Young lesbian women's health and wellbeing in New Zealand'

Summer Daze - drink, drugs and rape

Women's Health Update, Vol 11 No.1 January 2007

Unfortunately sexual assault is a spectre that is always present in the lives of women. Sexual assaults tend to increase in the summer months. This is because summer lifestyles often mean women are out of safe places. Windows and doors are open and defences are down as we enjoy the freedom of summer days and nights. Unsurprisingly few of us think about what to do or what happens after a sexual assault. None-the-less few would deny that good sexual assault services and responses are vital. Read more

Maori youth and contraception

June 2006 Women's Health Watch

How refreshing to read a sexual health article about what people are doing right! This secondary analysis of the Youth2000 survey sets out to identify the factors that have a positive impact on consistent contraceptive use among Maori youth. Most of the sexually active youth in the survey consistently used contraception. The study identifies protective factors that promote good outcomes or resilience, and looks at ways of reducing risk factors. The protective factors associated with consistent contraceptive use were getting enough time with parents, feeling teachers cared about them, feeling their neighbourhood was safe and having an adult to talk to.... Read More

You are what you drink- women, identity and alcohol

July 2006 Women's Health Update

Enter almost any liquor store and you are greeted with a wall of bright and shiny bottles, beckoning like candy. These RTDs (ready to drinks) or alcopops are the sweet sisters of their hard spirit brothers. These diminutive bottles are brightly decorated and ready to take on the road. The sheer range of alternatives temps you to try them all.

They are aimed at younger women and seem to be working. Younger women's alcohol consumption is increasing stedily. Recent statistics indicate an overall rise in binge drinking in women across all age groups but this is particularly apparent in younger women. A 2004 study of changing drinking behaviour in Auckland found that 'from 1995 to 2003, binge, "risky" and "problematic" drinking had significantly increased in 16- 24 year females but not males'...Read More (pdf)

The end of the skinny runway model?

December 2006 Women's Health Watch

Not in New Zealand! The good news that the Madrid fashion week banned runway models with a BMI (body mass index) of less than 18 was heralded as an international first. However New Zealand Fashion week- September 18-25th 2006 - did not follow suit.
Organisers of the Madrid fashion week cited a responsibility to portray healthy body images and were willing to turn underweight models away. The Madrid show turned away 30 percent of the women who took part in previous events. A minimum BMI of 18 bans models such as Kate Moss and other  'thinspiration' models from the runway. The plan is that the fashion industry can begin to address health issues, including anorexia amongst its models, and portray a healthier image to the public... Read More

The Health of Young Women

November 2003 Women's Health Watch

Terryann Clark, adolescent nurse specialist and researcher with the Adolescent Health Research Group at the University of Auckland, presented some of the preliminary findings from Youth 2000 (the national secondary school health survey) to thirty people at a Women's Health Action seminar in May. Hazel Hodgkin summarises some of the more fascinating findings from an interesting presentation.

Young people think that they are in good health and most feel that their parents really care about them. These are some of the preliminary findings of the Youth 2000 study which collected a mass of data which will form a baseline of information for future studies on young New Zealanders. Although NZ's young people have rates of adolescent pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide that are among the highest in the western world, there has been surprisingly little national data on youth health in NZ. This study aimed to fill that gap... Read More

The Youth 2000 Study - health & wellbeing profile

April 2003 Women's Health Update

Findings from New Zealand's first national youth health survey provide both good and bad news about the health of New Zealand's young women.
The mental health data provide the most striking gender discrepancies. Females reported being generally less happy than males, under more stress and more likely to feel worn out. Female students were much more likely to have times when they felt down (40.7% for males and 60% for females). Of most serious concern are the findings on depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts (see box below) which are disturbingly high for both genders, but higher for young women.
Terryann Clark says factors that help protect young women (and men) from mental health problems include good relationships with families and at school, and feeling safe in the community.
The study provides much-needed information for policy-makers, educators, health providers and communities working with youth. It points to the need for giving greater priority to youth health in policy and service provision, and alerts us to the need for urgent action in the area of young women's mental health.... Read More

Tangled web: skinny sisters in cyberspace

December 2002 Women's Health Watch

While feminist groups have been campaigning for years to encourage young women to accept their body shape and reject media pressures to be thin, a disturbing new trend in eating disorders has emerged. Cordelia Lockett looks at this on-line phenomenon.

A number of pro-anorexia and bulimia websites have sprung up as platforms of 'support' for young women with eating difficulties. The sites contain chat rooms and message-boards, advice and diet tips - including lists of 'safe foods' and how to conceal an eating disorder from family and friends. Like the old Elle McPherson picture stuck to the fridge, images of thin models and actors serve to discourage the site-users from eating by reminding them exactly how far from 'perfection' they are. They also have links to 'calorie counter' sites where visitors can type in their food intake in neat tables and charts.... Read More

Women drinking more alcohol

January 2002 Women's Health Update

Cordelia Lockett reports on disturbing results from a recent survey of alcohol consumption in New Zealand.

An increasingly liberal social climate around alcohol may explain the marked rise in consumption by women and young people between 1995 and 2000. A recently released report - Drinking in New Zealand - based on a comparison of national surveys conducted by the Alcohol and Public Health Research Unit (APHRU), shows significant increases in the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed (including increases in heavy drinking) by women and young people of both sexes, as well as increases in alcohol-related problems - particularly among young women. Problems included an inability to remember things done while drinking and feeling ashamed about something done while drinking.... Read More

Women more prone to early death after heart attacks

September 1999 Women's Health Watch

Young women who have heart attacks are much more likely to die during hospitalisation than men, or older women, says a large US study.

Earlier studies had shown conflicting results about early deaths following heart attacks in women compared to men. The researchers analysed data on 155,565 women and 229,313 men aged between 30 and 89 years who were enrolled on a national registry between June 1994 and January 1998.

They found that overall mortality was 16.7% in women compared to 11.5% in men. Sex-based differences in mortality differed according to age. Among patients younger than 50 years, the mortality rate for women was twice that of men. The difference in rates decreased with age and was no longer significant after the age of 74 years.

It is not clear why this occurs, and the researchers called for special study of this high- risk group. They found that only one-third of the difference between men and women could be accounted for by differences in medical history, the clinical severity of the heart attack, and early management.
Ref: NEJM 1999; 341: 217-225

Breast related body image - Young New Zealand women talk about their breasts

September 1997 Women's Health Watch

University Otago Medical student Susan Macleod and lecturer Connie Logan talk about the findings of their study, 'Adolescent Women's Body Image: Factors Affecting How Young Women View Their Breasts.'

Considerable research over the past decades has focused on how women feel about their shape, particularly in regard to issues of weight. Yet little has been written about the effect breast size and shape have on young women's self esteem. Breasts, like bodies, come in a wide range of different sizes and shapes - the most desirable of which is dictated by fashion...

Although most of the participants tended to feel positive about themselves in general (over 50% were moderately or very positive about themselves, their physical ability, and their breasts), self--consciousness was a problem for these young women. Three-quarters of the women interviewed indicated that they had been embarrassed because of their breasts. They tended to limit what clothing they would wear and which activities they would pursue to avoid being noticed.... Read More

Girlpower under the microscope

June 1998 Women's Health Update

'Girls just wanna have fun' so the song goes, but it seems to involve smoking, drinking and having sex earlier and more often than generations before, and they're not necessarily happier.

That was the message from Women's Health Action's mini-conference in June, 'Young women - are they in trouble?' More reports below

Despite young women having more opportunities and more freedom, the conference revealed that public health indicators are showing young women's health is worseningand that the issues affecting young women's health are interlinked. Young women smoke because they believe it will keep their weight down. Anxiety about body image was an important cause of depression for young women. They drink to fit in and loosen up, but alcohol is often a factor in early sexual experiences which they subsequently regret. And so it goes on.... Read More

Young Women - Are They in Trouble?

June 1998 Women's Health Action Mini Conference

A summary of this conference can be found above in the Women's Health Update article: Girlpower under the microscope.

Conference Speakers included:

Hon. Deborah Morris, Dr. Charlotte Paul (Otago University, Department of Preventative & Social Medicine), Trish Fraser (ASH), Val Norton (Alcohol Liquor Advisory Council -ALAC)

Below are notes from the opening speech (By Deborah Morris), Notes to a facilitated discussion on Empowering Young Women and Notes to a facilitated discussion on Youth Suicide.... Read More

Catching Up with the Boys: Young Women and Drinking

June 1998 WHA Mini Conference
Summary of slides from Valerie Norton's presentation at "Young Women- are they in trouble?" a Women's Health Action Mini- Conference. This presentation looks at New Zeland and international trends in patterns of drinking.... Read Here

Binge Drinking facilitated by Val Norton

June 1998 WHA Mini Conference
Notes to the facilitated discussion from "Young Women- are they in trouble?" WHA Mini Conference 1998... Read Here

Milk good for girls

April 1998 Women's Health Watch

Sheffield schoolgirls consumed a pint of milk daily for 18 months and then had their bones measured; the control group drank an average 150 mls. Compared with the control group the intervention group had greater increases in bone density (9.6% v 8.5%) and bone mineral content (27% v 24%). No significant differences in height, weight, lean body mass and fat mass were observed between the groups. The researchers concluded that increased milk consumption significantly enhanced bone mineral acquisition in adolescent girls and could favourably modify attainment of peak bone mass.
Ref: BMJ 1997; 315

Teens targeted in free campaign

January 1998 Women's Health Update

Eye-catching postcards on display in cafes throughout Auckland and Northland announce new free sexual health services for young people.

North Health has funded the Family Planning Association to provide the new programme to the tune of $300,000 as part of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy announced by Jenny Shipley when Minister of Health in 1996.

The new service gives under-20-year-olds free sexual health consultations at Family Planning Association clinics and for those aged 20 to 24 the first visit is free. Women of any age who have had a termination of pregnancy can have free visits for a year.

As well as the free postcards and posters, an advertising campaign run through cinemas and on the backs of buses informs young people about the scheme. Clients can ring an 0800 FAM PLAN line which diverts callers to one of twelve centres or six outreach clinics provided by FPA in the Auckland and Northland regions. These facilities offer a wide range of opening times with after hours emergency service... Read More

Smoking...the way to go?

October 1997 Women's Health Update

The decision that so many teenage girls in New Zealand are making to become smokers is related to how they look at their world, concludes recent research undertaken by Iona Macdonald at Auckland University's Psychology Department.

At the expense of real or potential alternatives, influences in today's world apparently make sucking on a cigarette desirable for your girls. From a series of interviews with 13- and 14-year-old girls, including smokers and nonsmokers, questions were asked about smoking and identity. The effects of school health education on the girls' attitudes towards smoking revealed some interesting results....

 

Resources

A Girl's Guide to Periods: Everything You Need to Know About Menstruation

1997 Canadian Women's Health Network

This resource, reprinted and adapted with permission from Sweet Secrets: Stories of Menstruation, provides clinical and anecdotal information for girls and young women about menstruation, menstrual problems, products and celebrations. Find it here

 

 

 

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