Obesity leads to increased infertility

The American National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has found that "Men with increased body mass index were significantly more likely to be infertile than normal-weight men".

The lead investigator Markku Sallmen said that "the data suggest that a 20-pound increase in men's weight may increase the chance of infertility by about 10 percent,"

But it's not limited to men. Donna Baird who also worked on the study said that "women who are overweight or obese tend to have a more difficult time becoming pregnant than normal-weight women, but whether men who are overweight or obese also have fertility problems had not been studied."

The study established that 28 percent of the couples had experienced infertility because of such influences as age, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake and solvent or pesticide exposure. The researchers concluded that a man's weight "was an independent risk factor for infertility" regardless of age.