Objective: To evaluate whether childhood obesity is associated with infertility in women's reproductive-aged life.

Design: Prospective longitudinal study.

Setting: Not applicable.

Intervention(s): None.

Patient(s): A total of 1,544 girls, aged 7-15 years in 1985, and who completed questionnaires at follow-up in 2004-2006 and/or 2009-2011.

Main outcome measure(s): Infertility was defined as having difficulty conceiving (had tried for ≥12 months to become pregnant without succeeding) or having seen a doctor because of trouble becoming pregnant.

Result(s): At ages from 7-11 years, girls at both the lower and upper end of the body mass index (BMI) z score had increased risk of infertility. Compared with normal weight girls, those with obesity at ages 7-11 years were more likely in adulthood to report infertility (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 2.94, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.48-5.84), difficulty conceiving (aRR = 3.89, 95% CI 1.95-7.77), or having seen a doctor because of trouble becoming pregnant (aRR = 3.65, 95% CI 1.90-7.02) after adjusting for childhood age, follow-up length, highest parental education, and marital status.

Conclusion(s): Childhood obesity before 12 years of age appears to increase the risk of female infertility in later life.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	childhood, body composition, body mass index, infertility, waist-to-height ratio
Research Division:	Medical and Health Sciences
Research Group:	Public Health and Health Services
Research Field:	Epidemiology
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health)
Objective Field:	Preventive Medicine
UTAS Author:	He, Y (Ms Ye He)
UTAS Author:	Tian, J (Dr Jing Tian)
UTAS Author:	Oddy, WH (Professor Wendy Oddy)
UTAS Author:	Dwyer, T (Professor Terry Dwyer)
UTAS Author:	Venn, AJ (Professor Alison Venn)
ID Code:	128846
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	2
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2018-10-17
Last Modified:	2018-12-12
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