Male Obesity Linked To Infertility And Low Semen Quality: Study

Male obesity among men in the reproductive age is on the rise and a new study suggested that it could lead to fertility issues.

Even though there is increasing evidence about the role of nutrition in sperm quality, there is still a lot of controversies pertaining to the association between obesity and sperm parameters. But a new study pointed out that maintaining healthy body weight is key to increasing sperm quality and improve male fertility.

About 10 to 15% of all couples in the reproductive age group suffer from infertility caused by several factors including genetic, physiological, environmental, and nutritional.

Experts from the Human Nutrition Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University in collaboration with the University of Utah, Ahvaz Jundishapur University, and the National University of Cordoba, Argentina carried out a review of previously existing observational scientific literature to evaluate the link between adiposity and sperm quality.

The research team reviewed around 88 different articles and found that overweight and/or obesity were associated with low semen quality parameters including sperm count, semen volume, semen concentration, sperm vitality, total motility, and normal morphology. The findings also revealed that being underweight also was associated with low sperm normal morphology.

"Overweight and/or obesity were also positively associated with high estradiol concentrations. Meta-analysis indicated that overweight and/or obesity categories were associated with lower sperm quality (i.e., semen volume, sperm count and concentration, sperm vitality, total motility, and normal morphology), and the underweight category was likewise associated with low sperm normal morphology," said the researchers in their paper published in the journal Obesity Reviews, which is one of the most impactful scientific journals in the field of endocrinology and metabolism.

They believe that their findings demonstrate the importance of adiposity in semen quality. They suggested that overweight/obesity prevention should be considered at a young age to avoid reproductive health problems. They also opined that additional studies are needed to elucidate the potential health benefits of weight loss for improving reproductive potential in obese individuals.

"Our results suggest that maintaining healthy body weight is important for increasing sperm quality parameters and potentially male fertility," concluded the researchers in their paper.