Overweight boys more likely to develop into infertile men: Study

A new paper in the European Journal of Endocrinology indicates that overweight boys tend to have lower testicular volume, putting them at risk for infertility in adulthood.Infertility weighs on both the psychological health and the economic and social lives of people of childbearing age. Infertility affected 48 million couples in 2010.

The impact of obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders on testicular growth in childhood is unknown. Researchers here performed a retrospective, cross-sectional study on children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 years, referred to the Unit of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Catania, in Sicily, for body weight control.

The investigators collected data on testicular volume, age, body mass index, and insulin resistance in 268 children and adolescents. They found that boys with normal weight had a 1.5 times higher testicular volume compared to those who were overweight or obese in peripubertal age.

Children and adolescents in the study with normal insulin levels had 1.5-2 times higher testicular volume compared to those with hyperinsulinemia, a condition often associated with type 2 diabetes in which patients have higher insulin levels in their blood. Thus, those with overweight or obesity, hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance showed lower testicular volume than their healthy peers. Since lower testicular volume predicts poorer sperm production in adulthood, the researchers here believe that weight loss could help patients avoid infertility later in life.

Reference:

Testicular volume in 268 children and adolescents followed-up for childhood obesity - a retrospective cross-sectional study,European Journal of Endocrinology, DOI: 10.1093/ejendo/lvad033