There is a very interesting article in the news today. There was a study done recently that shows that couples who are using IVF to conceive are less likely to get pregnant if the dad is overweight. According to the study, which was done by Dr. Zaher Merhi of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, for every increase of 5 in the dad’s BMI, the couple’s chances of getting pregnant decrease by a whopping 28%. That’s quite the difference!
The study accounted for a multitude of factors and was extremely comprehensive. There were no differences in sperm quality or count between fathers with a normal or high BMI. In fact, the only factors they found to affect chances of IVF being successful was the number of embryos transferred and the father’s BMI.
The clear lesson taken from the results of this study is that fathers should seriously consider their lifestyle and make every attempt to lose weight before spending money on expensive and tedious IVF treatments. 28% over 5 points on the BMI scale is a huge difference, but it’s not a huge amount of weight to lose. Let’s say you have a male who is 5 feet and 10 inches tall. At 208 pounds, he would be considered overweight, bordering on obese with a BMI of 29.8. To get to a BMI of around 24.8, which is a 5 point decrease and would increase the couple’s chances of conceiving by about 28%, he would only have to lose 35 pounds. That would put him at 173 pounds, right at the very top of the normal range with a BMI of 24.8. Which is more difficult or costly, going through another round of IVF and having it not be successful, or going on a strict diet to lose 35 pounds and increasing your chances by 28%? I’d say the answer is pretty clear, especially when you consider the many other benefits of having a healthy weight.
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