Studies have long shown a strong link between sexual health and weight, particularly when people are in the ‘obese’ weight category. The link between weight loss and wellness is unsurprising and well known, but the fact that this extends into sexual wellbeing will be new information to many. Being overweight can lead to both a reduced amount of sex and to problems with sexual performance.
A new study has found, however, that exercise could be the key to improving sexual health, especially in men. The study was carried out on a group of over 12,000 French women and men, with various different weights. It was found that obese women were 30 percent less likely than other respondents to have had a sexual partner in the past year, while obese men were 70 percent less likely than average-weight men to have had a sexual partner in the past year.
The study also found that obesity could lead to riskier sexual behaviour, such as finding sexual partners using the internet, due to a lack of self-confidence. Obese men are also 10 times as likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease than men of a normal weight.
Larger women were also much less likely to seek medical advice regarding contraceptives and so at risk of unplanned pregnancy: in fact, unintended pregnancy rate amongst obese women is four times the normal rate.
Dr Sandy Goldbeck-Wood who wrote an editorial on the research is a specialist in psychosexual medicine and said that the reasons behind the risk of obese men and women are likely to be complex.
As well as the factors mentioned above, there are physical symptoms of obesity which can affect people’s sex lives. For example, obese people are at a greater risk of developing diabetes, urinary stress incontinence and depression, which could cause problems with sexual activity. Obese men were also at a 2.5 times higher risk of having erectile dysfunction than other men.
The good news is that another study found that exercise could be the key. Men who took part in some sort of moderate activity four times a week (such as walking briskly) were actually two-thirds less likely to experience some sort of sexual dysfunction than those who do not take exercise. Exercise can also lower blood sugars, fat levels and relieve depression, so can benefit sexual health in both men and women.
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