 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women aren't the only ones who have more trouble conceiving a child if they're overweight. A new study shows overweight men have the same problem.
Research supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences reveals just an extra 20 pounds is all it takes to make men less fertile than their normal weight peers. The study was conducted among a large sample of farm families who were taking part in a general health study. Men who were 20 pounds overweight had about a 10-percent chance of being infertile. Obese men were nearly twice as likely as men with normal weights to have problems with infertility.
Text Continues Below
All women in the study were under age 40 and either had or attempted to have a child within the last four years. Infertility was defined as failing to conceive after at least 12 months of unprotected sex. Nearly 30 percent of the couples had problems with fertility.
Results linking infertility to weight gain in men held true even after the findings were adjusted to take other factors that affect fertility into account, such as weight of the woman, smoking, and exposure to pesticides. Results were also similar for younger and older men in the study.
The authors note this is the first study to look specifically at the effect of weight gain on infertility in men and more studies are needed to confirm their findings. But if the results stand up to further scrutiny, they will shed more light on the problem of infertility. "If substantiated," they write, "they suggest that personal and societal costs of male infertility and its treatment is an additional price associated with the obesity epidemic."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Epidemiology, 2006;17:520-523
|
.gif)
