Being overweight reduces your chances of becoming pregnant

It is well known that if you are overweight it affects your fertility and chances of becoming pregnant naturally and another study published last year by researchers at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam have again drawn the same conclusion.

It is known that obesity disrupts ovulation and many women who are overweight do not ovulate regularly. However, what was not known for certain is it that fertility also declines among overweight women who are ovulating regularly.

After following over 3,000 couples, the study found that women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher (which is considered obese) had a significantly lower probability of becoming pregnant naturally than women with BMIs between 21 and 29 (which is considered normal weight).

Further, the more obese the woman was, the harder time she had with conception. Compared with normal weight women, women with a BMI of 35 had a 26 percent lower chance of getting pregnant naturally, while women with a BMI of 40 had a 43 percent lower chance. This means that the more overweight you are, the harder it becomes to get pregnant.

Obese women may have disturbed hormone levels, which decrease their chances of successful fertilization, researchers said.

Fortunately, there was also recent review into the most effective diet to lose weight and it was concluded that you lose more weight on a low glycaemic diet, which is the diet (or healthy eating pattern) that I promote to all my clients whether or not they are overweight.

To find out more, contact UrBod Nutritionist Melody Mackeown Dip.ION (mBANT), specialist in pre-conceptual care, fertility and pregnancy care in the city of London, EC2.