Obesity affects fertility
Apr 11, 2007
OBESE couples have a more difficult time conceiving a baby than couples of normal weight, according to a study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Grain of science
OBESE couples have a more difficult time conceiving a baby than couples of normal weight, according to a study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Researchers tracked nearly 48,000 Danish couples between 1996 and 2002, including about 7,600 couples with both the man and woman either overweight or obese according to standards set by the World Health Organisation.
They measured how long it took couples to conceive a baby once they began unprotected sex in a bid to have a child.
If both the man and woman were obese, their chances of having to wait longer than a year before the woman became pregnant were nearly three times higher than for couples of normal weight, the study found.
If the man and woman were both overweight, their likelihood of waiting longer than a year before pregnancy was 1.4 times higher.
While doctors already knew that extra weight could affect fertility in women and men as individuals, this study looked at what happened to the fertility of couples when both the man and woman were overweight.
Previous research had established that semen quality and levels of reproductive hormones were diminished in overweight men, and that being overweight coukd harm ovulation, conception and early foetal development in women.
“If a couple is obese or overweight and if they want to have a child, we would advise them to try and lose some weight,†lead researcher Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and University of California Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview.
OBESE couples have a more difficult time conceiving a baby than couples of normal weight, according to a study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Researchers tracked nearly 48,000 Danish couples between 1996 and 2002, including about 7,600 couples with both the man and woman either overweight or obese according to standards set by the World Health Organisation.
They measured how long it took couples to conceive a baby once they began unprotected sex in a bid to have a child.
If both the man and woman were obese, their chances of having to wait longer than a year before the woman became pregnant were nearly three times higher than for couples of normal weight, the study found.
If the man and woman were both overweight, their likelihood of waiting longer than a year before pregnancy was 1.4 times higher.
While doctors already knew that extra weight could affect fertility in women and men as individuals, this study looked at what happened to the fertility of couples when both the man and woman were overweight.
Previous research had established that semen quality and levels of reproductive hormones were diminished in overweight men, and that being overweight coukd harm ovulation, conception and early foetal development in women.
“If a couple is obese or overweight and if they want to have a child, we would advise them to try and lose some weight,†lead researcher Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and University of California Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview.