The official blog of Beachbody Coach Kevin Kane MD, The FitDoc!
Thin People Make Babies Better!
Wed, Jan 23 2008 11:35
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Here's another reason to stay fit (reason #2,064, I think. I lost count):
Thin People Make Babies Better!
Notice I didn't say make better babies, I said make babies better. It's like the old Starkist commercials where Charlie Tuna is playing the violin in his tuxedo and they tell him, "Starkist doesn't want tuna with good taste, Starkist wants tuna that tastes good!"
Here's The Fit Doc scoop:
Researcher report in the Feb 2008 edition of the journal Human Reproduction that a woman's chance of getting pregnant goes down as her weight goes up.
They looked at over 3000 women and their partners with no obvious reason for infertility, and who have spent a year or more without contraception and without getting pregnant. The researchers followed them for another year, or until they became pregnant or started fertility treatments. They found that obese women (BMI >30) had a 4% drop in their chance of getting pregnant for each 1 point increase in BMI. For very obese women (BMI 35-40) the probability of pregnancy was between 26 and 43% lower than for normal weight women (BMI 21-29).
Obesity is known to be a risk factor for low fertility due to anovulation. This, however is the first study to look at obesity and fertility in women who are ovulating normally, but are subfertile.
According to lead author Dr. J W Van Der Steeg, "Owing to the fact that more women of child-bearing age are becoming overweight and obese, this is a worrying finding." Since women in developed countries are putting off childbirth at the same time they are putting on weight, the two factors combine to lower fertility even more than either one alone.
The cause for the relationship between lower fertiltiy rate in obese women is unknown, but Dr Van Der Steeg thinks it may be related to the hormone leptin. Leptin is secreted by fatty tissue and is know to regulate appetite. Like many hormones, leptin may have additional effects in different parts of the body. "There is evidence that leptin may influence the process of steroid production by the ovaries'" he stated. "It is possible that obese women may have disturbed hormone levels, which decrease the chances of successful fertilization and implantaion."
"Although this study does not show whether women's chances of conceiving rise if they lose weight, because of the size of the cohort, with comparable women in different weight groups, we hypothesize that losing weight will increase the chance to conceive without treatment. Therefore, we would advise women to lose weight. Although the effect on better fertility is not proven, it is shown that the chance of a serious complication during pregnacy and labor is reduced (with weight loss)."
Thin People Make Babies Better!
Notice I didn't say make better babies, I said make babies better. It's like the old Starkist commercials where Charlie Tuna is playing the violin in his tuxedo and they tell him, "Starkist doesn't want tuna with good taste, Starkist wants tuna that tastes good!"
Here's The Fit Doc scoop:
Researcher report in the Feb 2008 edition of the journal Human Reproduction that a woman's chance of getting pregnant goes down as her weight goes up.
They looked at over 3000 women and their partners with no obvious reason for infertility, and who have spent a year or more without contraception and without getting pregnant. The researchers followed them for another year, or until they became pregnant or started fertility treatments. They found that obese women (BMI >30) had a 4% drop in their chance of getting pregnant for each 1 point increase in BMI. For very obese women (BMI 35-40) the probability of pregnancy was between 26 and 43% lower than for normal weight women (BMI 21-29).
Obesity is known to be a risk factor for low fertility due to anovulation. This, however is the first study to look at obesity and fertility in women who are ovulating normally, but are subfertile.
According to lead author Dr. J W Van Der Steeg, "Owing to the fact that more women of child-bearing age are becoming overweight and obese, this is a worrying finding." Since women in developed countries are putting off childbirth at the same time they are putting on weight, the two factors combine to lower fertility even more than either one alone.
The cause for the relationship between lower fertiltiy rate in obese women is unknown, but Dr Van Der Steeg thinks it may be related to the hormone leptin. Leptin is secreted by fatty tissue and is know to regulate appetite. Like many hormones, leptin may have additional effects in different parts of the body. "There is evidence that leptin may influence the process of steroid production by the ovaries'" he stated. "It is possible that obese women may have disturbed hormone levels, which decrease the chances of successful fertilization and implantaion."
"Although this study does not show whether women's chances of conceiving rise if they lose weight, because of the size of the cohort, with comparable women in different weight groups, we hypothesize that losing weight will increase the chance to conceive without treatment. Therefore, we would advise women to lose weight. Although the effect on better fertility is not proven, it is shown that the chance of a serious complication during pregnacy and labor is reduced (with weight loss)."
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