Obesity and sexual health study offers new insight

Published on Tuesday 15 June 2010 22:05

OBESE single women are four times more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than women of a healthy weight, despite having sex less often, researchers said yesterday.

They are also 63 per cent less likely to seek advice on contraception, 66 per cent less likely to take the contraceptive pill and generally view sex as less important, according to the largest ever study into obesity and sexual health.

Researchers found obese women were five times more likely to have met their partner on the internet, and were more likely to have an obese partner than women of a healthy weight.

Furthermore, they were 29 per cent less likely to report having had a sexual partner in the previous 12 months.

However, obesity also has a huge impact on men, with obese men being 69 per cent less likely to report more than one partner in the previous year compared with men of normal weight.

The research, published online in the British Medical Journal, involved more than 12,000 men and women in France.