Fertility And Obesity – What’s The Correlation?

Google ‘fertility tips’ and, within half a second, you’ll have a list of 153 million results. You can probably think of a few tips immediately like monitoring your ovulation cycle and having sex regularly on your most fertile days.

But, as time goes on and you don’t conceive, you may need to start looking at bigger issues – weight is one of them.

Excess kilos affect both male and female fertility. The mechanisms are different but the end result is the same – less chance of having a baby.

Obesity In Australians Of Reproductive Age

Data from 2017-18 shows that obesity affects around half to three-quarters of men and women of reproductive age in Australia.

Among those aged 25-34:

• 66.5% of men were overweight or obese
• 49.2% of women were overweight or obese.

Among those aged 35-44:

• 77.5% of men were overweight or obese
• 60.1% of women were overweight or obese.

Given these statistics, we can infer that most couples trying to conceive are affected by overweight or obesity in some way. So how does obesity affect fertility?

How Does Obesity Affect Female Fertility?

Excess weight, particularly excess abdominal fat, can reduce female fertility through hormonal changes that disrupt the reproductive cycle, namely:

• Increased leptin levels
• Insulin resistance
• Decreased levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG).

Those changes mean reduced fertility or infertility. Women who are overweight or obese may:

• Have irregular menstrual cycles, which makes it harder to identify fertile days
• Produce eggs of lower quality, which reduces the likelihood of conception
• Not ovulate at all, which makes conception impossible.

How Does Obesity Affect Male Fertility?

One study estimated that being 10 kg overweight reduces male fertility by about 10%.

In men, overweight and obesity can reduce fertility through:

• Hormonal changes
• Erectile dysfunction.

Obesity triggers other health problems that affect fertility

Obesity can trigger many other health conditions that affect fertility for both men and women. Those conditions include:

• Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes – this can result in erectile dysfunction, no sperm or damaged sperm
• Obstructive sleep apnoea – this can increase DNA fragmentation leading to infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss. It can also cause systemic inflammation that decreases sperm development and sperm quality.

So, What Can You Do?

If you’re eager to have a baby and are concerned about your weight, then step one is to increase your activity levels.

The recent FIT-PLESE study of obese women with unexplained infertility found that women who increased their activity levels saw the same increase in fertility as women who both exercised and dieted.

Step 2, though, is to try and lose weight. A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence found that women were more likely to ovulate and become pregnant if they lost weight and increased their activity levels.

Of course, we shouldn’t only be thinking about getting pregnant but also about the decades of parenthood that follow it. Raising a child requires energy and stamina. You want to be an active participant in the footie games, the beach holidays and all the other aspects of family life.

You need your health for that. Losing weight can help:

• Prevent you developing type 2 diabetes – every kilo you drop reduces your risk by 16%
• Prevent you developing sleep apnoea
• Protect your liver – reducing the risk of fatty liver disease and inflammation
• Protect your cardiovascular health – people who lost more than 10% of their weight reduced their risk of a cardiovascular event or death by 21% in one large randomised trial
• Improve your musculoskeletal health
• Decrease the risk of cancer.

The difficulty, of course, is that losing weight is not easy. Your weight is influenced by many different factors including your family history, medical conditions or medications, stress levels and mental state.

That’s why we take a multi-disciplinary approach to weight loss. Our multi-disciplinary team includes a:

• Bariatric surgeon
• GP and obesity doctor
• Accredited practising dietitian
• Psychologist.

This means we’re able to address your weight from many angles. We offer both medical and surgical weight loss options and provide ongoing support as you develop new, healthier habits.

If you’re trying to conceive or would like to lose weight so you can be a more active parent, then please contact us today.

Disclaimer

All information is general and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Dr Phil Lockie can consult with you to confirm if a particular treatment is right for you. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks.