Another reason for obese men to seek weight loss is a Fertility and Sterility journal study which says leaner men are more than three times likely to have high sperm counts compared with fat people. The likelihood of having low sperm counts in obese men was 3.3 times more than in normal-weight males. The obese are also at threefold risk of low count of progressively motile category, said Dr. Ahmad O. Hammoud of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

“There is a discernible link between overweight and lower sperm count,” Hammoud and his team stress. They highlighted the need for more research to observe this aspect in the light of weight loss effects on sperm characteristics.

The researchers note the evidence of impaired fertility in fat men,  with body fat contributing to lower testosterone levels. They examined effects of body mass index (BMI) on sperm worth in 390 men in 2-years.

Twenty-four percent of the men were normal weight, 43 percent were overweight, and 33 percent were obese out of which, 10.5 percent had low sperm counts.

Obese men were also more likely to have other problems like sperm of abnormal shape and erectile dysfunction. The researchers said their findings were not different from other studies which also have found obesity linked with impotence risk.

The researchers defend their findings against the fact that the objects of the study were men already looking for infertility treatment making them likely to have worse sperms. Hammoud and colleagues say that the link of poor sperm quality and increased BMI in the general population is also the same.