Fertility Falls among Obese Women

Body mass index (BMI), a statistical measure of weight in which weight is divided by height, is used as an index of obesity. A BMI above 25 is considered overweight, with obesity ranked at a BMI of 30 or higher. Researchers have found a clear relationship between obesity and decreased fertility, showing that for every BMI point above 30, conception rates decrease by 4%. Women with a BMI above 35 are between 26% and 49% less likely to conceive than women with a BMI between 21 and 29. Furthermore, pregnancy poses additional health risks to both mother and child if the mother is obese.