We knew that the overweight of the mother could be an obstacle to conception (in the case of obese women, whose BMI exceeds 30), because body fat affects the production of two hormones essential for ovulation. What had been less studied, however, was the impact of the father's obesity. It is now done, via a study conducted by researchers from the American Institutes of Health and published in the journal Human Reproduction , and the verdict is clear:couples in which both partners are obese need 55% to 59% longer to conceive.
The study was conducted between 2005 and 2011, on 501 couples from Michigan and Texas (all over the age of 18). Among them, the scientists created groups according to the participants' BMI, "class 1 obese" for those between 30 and 34.9 (which corresponds to moderate obesity) and "class 2 obesity" above 35. (severe obesity). Couples were followed until pregnancy or even up to a year after birth. During the conception process, women were asked to record their menstrual cycle, their sexual relationships and the results of their pregnancy tests. The researchers were therefore able to compare the average time to conception between obese and non-obese couples. Their observation? Severely obese couples need much longer than others to conceive, since they have estimated that it takes an additional 55% before the woman is pregnant (or even 59% by eliminating external factors such as age, smoking or level of physical activity). This corresponds to a delay observed with PMA (medically assisted procreation).
From now on, faced with obese partners wishing to conceive, doctors should therefore extend the recommendation to lose weight to the spouse...
