Obesity May Affect Fertility in Young Women
(HealthDay News) -- Women who become obese -- a step above overweight -- by the age of 18 are more likely to become infertile and develop polycystic ovarian syndrome than others, new research suggests.
These obese young women also less likely to become pregnant than women who become obese when they're older, according to the results of a study of 1,538 patients who were undergoing bariatric surgery at clinics in the United States. The women completed surveys about their medical and sexual histories.
Overall, however, the women in the study, who ranged in age from 18 to 78 years, were as likely to have been pregnant and to have given birth to at least one live child as women in the general population. Seventy-nine percent of those who took part in the study had been pregnant at least once, and 74 percent had at least one live birth, the researchers found.
About half of the study participants aged 18 to 44 who could become pregnant said they wouldn't try to have more children after bariatric surgery. The women in this group hadn't reached menopause and weren't sterilized, didn't have partners who were sterilized, and didn't have some other obstacle in the way of pregnancy.
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