Weight loss doesn't help pregnancy chances, study finds
Date:
March 14, 2022
Source:
University of Virginia Health System
Summary:
Women who are obese and struggling to become pregnant are often
advised to lose weight, but a new study finds no fertility benefits
from weight loss.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Women who are obese and struggling to become pregnant are often advised to
lose weight, but a new study finds no fertility benefits from weight loss.
==========================================================================
A randomized study of 379 women with obesity and unexplained infertility
found that intensive lifestyle changes that shed pounds led to no better chances of pregnancy and healthy births than simply increasing physical activity without weight loss.
"We have known for decades that obese women often have difficulty
getting pregnant," said researcher Daniel J. Haisenleder, PhD, of
the University of Virginia School of Medicine's Center for Research in Reproduction. "For this reason, many physicians advise weight loss prior
to conception. However, there are few studies that have addressed the
issue comparing a healthy lifestyle - - i.e., exercise -- vs. exercise
plus weight loss." Obesity and Pregnancy The FIT-PLESE study, conducted
at nine academic medical centers across the country, divided participants
into two groups: Half the women dieted intensely using meal replacements, medications and increased physical activity. The other half simply
increased their physical activity without trying to lose weight.
After completing the programs, both groups received three rounds of
standard infertility treatments.
Women in the weight-loss program ended up losing, on average, 7% of their
body weight, while participants in the exercise-only group typically
maintained their weights. But, in the end, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the frequency of healthy
births. In total, 23 of the 188 women who completed the 16-week intensive weight-loss program ended up giving birth; among the 191 who completed
the exercise-only program, 29 gave birth.
The intensive dieting program did offer health benefits for the women
who completed it, however. In addition to dropping pounds, they saw
a major decrease in metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that
increase the risk for serious health problems such as diabetes, stroke
and heart disease.
Based on their findings, Haisenleder and his collaborators conclude that
the weight-loss program did not make women more fertile or improve birth outcomes compared with simply exercising. They note the health benefits
of weight loss may not translate into better odds of getting pregnant.
"Weight loss improved metabolic health in these subjects. Unfortunately
the changes seen did not improve fertility," Haisenleder
said. "Infertility within this population remains an important health
issue, and will require further studies to address the problem in
the future." Funding for the research was provided by the National
Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development, grants U10 HD38992, U10 HD077680,
U10 HD39005, U10 HD077844, U10HD055925, U10 HD27049, U54-HD29834 and R24-HD102061. The project also was supported by the NIH's National
Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, grants UL1 TR002014 and UL1 TR001863. Nutrisystem provided discounted coupons, and Fitbit provided discounted Fitbits for activity monitoring.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Virginia_Health_System. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Richard S. Legro, Karl R. Hansen, Michael P. Diamond, Anne
Z. Steiner,
Christos Coutifaris, Marcelle I. Cedars, Kathleen M. Hoeger, Rebecca
Usadi, Erica B. Johnstone, Daniel J. Haisenleder, Robert A. Wild,
Kurt T.
Barnhart, Jennifer Mersereau, J. C. Trussell, Stephen A. Krawetz,
Penny M. Kris-Etherton, David B. Sarwer, Nanette Santoro, Esther
Eisenberg, Hao Huang, Heping Zhang. Effects of preconception
lifestyle intervention in infertile women with obesity: The
FIT-PLESE randomized controlled trial.
PLOS Medicine, 2022; 19 (1): e1003883 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pmed.1003883 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220314105639.htm
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