Being too skinny damages fertility more than obesity

Being too thin is worse than being too fat when trying for a baby, women have been warned.

A study found that skinny women are less likely to become pregnant than those who are overweight – including those classed as dangerously obese.

The researcher say that the amount of attention being paid to the health risks of being overweight meant that the perils of being underweight are being largely ignored.

The problem is being exacerbated by the ‘size zero’ culture in girls and young women striving to emulate the painfully thin look of models and other celebrities.

Dr Sherbahn, of the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago, crunched the figures on almost 2,500 sessions of IVF carried out at his clinic over an eight-year period.

The women were divided into three groups by weight – very thin, normal and obese. The normal weight group included some women who would be classed as overweight in the UK.

Some 50 per cent of those in the normal weight group had babies.

This compared with 45 per cent of those in the obese group, which included women classed as dangerously obese, and just 34 per cent of those classed as very thin.

The women classed as very thin had a BMI, or body mass index of 14 to 18.

A woman who is 5ft 4in tall and weighs 7stone will have a BMI of 17.  One who is 5ft 10ins tall and weighs 9 stone will have a BMI of 18.

Dr Sherbahn said that while some other studies had hinted that being skinny may be worse for fertility than being fat, he was ‘surprised’ at the size of the effect.

It is known that being very thin can make it difficult to get pregnant naturally, due to a drop in the female sex hormone oestrogen.

But women undergoing IVF are given hormones, so this couldn’t be the reason for the results.

The women in all three groups produced similar numbers of eggs, so the problems for the very thin later must have occurred at a later stage in the process, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s annual conference heard.

One possibility is that the embryos found it more difficult to implant in the wombs of the very thin women because they were undernourished.

Dr Sherbahn said: ‘It could be in evolutionary terms that if people were too thin that maybe food wasn’t readily available and maybe it wasn’t the best time to reproduce and maybe the uterus wasn’t at its best.’

He added that women are likely unaware that it can be more damaging for their fertility to be too thin rather than too fat.

‘I am no expert on the sociological side of it but I have a teenage daughter and it seems that girls idolise models who are anorexic-looking.

‘It seems that the ideal body structure for young women is this overly-skinny physique and women don’t understand that there is any concern about that.’

He said that women trying to get pregnant – naturally or with fertility treatment – should try to get as close to their ideal eight as possible.

Charles Kingsland, a consultant gynaecologist at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital and member of the British Fertility Society, said: ‘For some people, getting pregnant is very easy but for others it is difficult and it is important to look at your bodyweight.

‘There is no doubt that if it is appropriate for your height, you have a higher chance of conceiving.’

WHY OESTROGEN COULD BE USED IN DIETING

Lack of oestrogen can increase appetite and slow down metabolism – paving the way for the hormone to be used as a diet aid.

Researchers in the U.S. discovered that low levels of the female sex hormone in certain parts of a woman’s brain can lead to obesity.

The findings, from tests in mice, are at an early stage, but could have consequences for millions of post-menopausal women if the link can be proved in humans in future research.

Dr Deborah Clegg, who led the study, said: ‘Oestrogen has a profound effect on metabolism. We hadn’t previously thought of sex hormones as being critical regulators of food intake and body weight.’

Oestrogen receptors are located throughout the body, but the researchers found two specific places in the brain where they appear to regulate energy balance.

Female mice whose brains lacked oestrogen in these parts became obese and developed illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.

Hold the fries! Men who eat junk food are more likely to be infertile !!!

• Diet high in trans-fats could damage sperm

Hold the fries: According to doctors nutrition has a direct impact on sperm quality

Young men who hope one day to become fathers should cut back on the unhealthy snacks.

Scientists have found that feasting on pizza, chips and crisps could make them infertile.

According to doctors from Harvard University and the University of Murcia nutrition can have a direct impact on the male reproductive system.

After analyzing sperm from men aged between 18 and 22 they discovered those who had a diet high in trans fats – an ingredient found in most processed foods – were at higher risk of infertility.

Before participating in the study all 188 male volunteers were assessed to ensure no other health factors could affect sperm quality.

Food questionnaires were completed, and participant diets were put into two categories. These were ‘western’ – a diet rich in red meat, refined carbs, sweets and energy drinks – and ‘prudent’ – a diet rich in fish, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

Semen tests were then conducted to assess sperm movement, concentration and shape.

 Adherence to a prudent diet was associated with higher sperm movement while the sperm of men with poor diets was found to be less likely to survive the journey to fertilize an egg.

Lead author of the study – presented this week at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) - Audrey Gaskins, said: ‘The main overall finding of our work is that a healthy diet seems to be beneficial for semen quality.’

‘Specifically, a healthy diet composed of a higher intake of fish, fresh fruit, whole grains, legumes and vegetables seems to improve sperm motility… which means a higher number of sperm actually move around, rather than sit still.’

A second study working with 100 male volunteers led by Dr. Jorge Chavarro, at the Harvard School of Public Health, revealed that a diet high in trans fat had lower sperm concentration levels.

Trans fat levels found in the sperm and semen also increased.

Gaskins did stress however that despite the results more work is needed to explore the exact correlation between nutrition and fertility.

She noted:’This was a small study, and we don’t know if there’s something else about the men that causes them to have worse motility.

‘We don’t know if nutrition actually causes the change. So, for now all we can say is that there’s an association between nutrition and sperm quality.”

Edward Kim, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology said: ‘We are still exploring the impact of nutrition on male fertility, but even these initial studies point to a link between a good diet and reproductive health for men.’

Loophole:

Most of us, taking the excuse of hectic schedule are eating too much fad meals like cakes, burgers, fried chickens and so on. You may ask – But small treat after dinner can not be so bad. While it is not daily habit it is just fine but when it becomes frequent, you should worry because junk good can cause overweight and several other health problems.