Obesity May Affect Fertility In Young Women

Obesity carries with it many increased health risks including premature death, heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. In addition to these risks, research now indicates that young women who struggle with obesity, a classification just above overweight, may also have less of a chance of getting pregnant.

Women who are obese by the age of 18 are more likely to become infertile and develop polycystic ovarian syndrome than other women. Infertility is especially a threat to women who battle obesity at an early age. Young women who are already obese are less likely to get pregnant than women who become obese when they’re older.

According to some research, a woman with a BMI of 35 is 26% less likely to get pregnant than a normal weight woman, while women with a BMI of 40 or more are 43% less likely to get pregnant.

While it’s clear that a link between obesity and infertility exists, there’s still a lot of confusion about exactly what the correlation is. Obesity is a known risk factor for ovulation problems, but obese women who are ovulating normally also show increased infertility. Some scientists believe hormone levels changed by obesity make affect fertilization, but a consensus has yet to be reached about exactly how obesity prevents so many women from getting pregnant.

The only thing we know for sure is that the more overweight you are, the less likely you are to become pregnant.