Obesity and sex: Being overweight can affect sexual performance

Many experts say that being overweight is not only bad for your overall health, but also may make for discouraging experiences in the bedroom. Dr. Andrew McCullough, an associate professor of clinical urology at New York University School of Medicine and director of male sexual health at NYU's Langone Medical Center stated, "It seems like a no-brainer. If you lose weight, you will feel more attractive and that could improve your sex life."

In a new European study, researchers found obese women had more trouble finding a sexual partner than  men of the same weight, while obese men hadn't such difficulty finding women who were attracted to them. Overweight men were also four times as likely to have an unplanned pregnancy. However, obese men reported a high rate of erectile dysfunction.

Obese men and women are much more prone to diabetes, heart conditions, depression, urinary stress, incontinence, low self esteem, low self confidence, and social prejudices, all of which can lead to sexual problems. They may also have muscular or skeletal problems, flexibility issues and trouble moving around at all, which can make sex challenging.

Social pressures and embarrassment on both the part of the obese patient and the doctor sometimes makes it difficult to have proper dialogue when at a doctor's appointment. Women may be anxious to ask about birth control or even talk about sex at all. Hence, obese women have been said to be four times more likely to get pregnant than thin women. The obese woman and her baby will also be at a higher risk for complications during pregnancy and child birth.

Dr. Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, a specialist in psychosexual medicine at a London sexual health clinic, made the statements, "Physicians must talk to obese women about birth control. Doctors need to get over their own embarrassment and ask the difficult questions."

Recent studies have shown that the obesity epidemic is growing in the western world and it is only worsening sexual dysfunction problems. Dr. McCullough stated, "This is not a heart attack or a stroke...but it's an important quality of life factor and a public health problem."

As a point of reference:

• People with a BMI of 18-24 are considered to have a healthy weight
• Those with a BMI of 25 or above are considered overweight
• Those with a BMI of 30 or more are classified as obese

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