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Obesity a major cause of infertility

Thursday, 28 September 2006

The rising trend of obesity in Australia could create a nation of infertile women, according to a 成人大片 PhD researcher who is studying the link between excess weight and reproductive disorders.

Siew Lim, a physiology researcher in the , says a large number of overweight and obese women are more likely to be infertile, suffer miscarriages and experience menstrual irregularities.

"Two thirds of Australians are now either overweight or obese and there is no sign of it levelling off. Metabolic diseases and obesity-related reproductive disorders are going to increase if nothing is done," Ms Lim says.

"We know that obese women are 2.7 times more likely to be infertile compared to normal women. Obesity rates have doubled in Australia in the last two decades and that is the reason why a lot of women are having trouble falling pregnant or carrying babies to full term."

Ms Lim says childhood obesity in adolescence and young adulthood needs to be targeted so that women enter their reproductive years without carrying excess weight.

"Obese women are more likely to give birth to obese large babies and this creates a vicious cycle. We need to break this cycle now, otherwise we will have a higher incidence of infertility and reproductive disorders."

Siew Lim is working with the division after graduating with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the 成人大片 and Master of Nutrition and Dietetics at . She is studying for her PhD under the supervision of Professor Robert Norman from the University's and Dr Manny Noakes and Dr Peter Clifton from the .

She is one of four inaugural 2006 (HDA) Scholars. HDA is a State-wide centre which fosters research between various disciplines, relating to the healthy development of infants, children and teenagers.

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