BMI in childhood and adolescence is associated with impaired reproductive function : a population-based cohort study from birth to age 50 years
Laru, J.; Nedelec, R.; Koivuaho, E.; Ojaniemi, M.; Järvelin, M.-R.; Tapanainen, J.S.; Franks, S.; Tolvanen, M.; Piltonen, T.T.; Sebert, S.; Morin-Papunen, L. (2021-08-07)
J Laru, R Nedelec, E Koivuaho, M Ojaniemi, M -R Järvelin, J S Tapanainen, S Franks, M Tolvanen, T T Piltonen, S Sebert, L Morin-Papunen, BMI in childhood and adolescence is associated with impaired reproductive function—a population-based cohort study from birth to age 50 years, Human Reproduction, Volume 36, Issue 11, November 2021, Pages 2948–2961, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deab164
VC The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021112557129
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Study question: What is the association between childhood and adolescent BMI and reproductive capacity in women?
Summary answer: Adolescent girls with obesity had an increased risk of infertility and childlessness in adulthood independently of their marital status or the presence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
What is known already: Girls with obesity (BMI (kg/m²)>95th percentile) more often exhibit menstrual irregularities and infertility problems as compared to those with normal weight, and premenarcheal girls with obesity have an increased risk of childlessness and infertility in adulthood. Follow-up studies on the relation between childhood and adolescence growth patterns and fertility or parity throughout the reproductive life span are limited.
Study design, size, duration: A prospective, population-based cohort study (the Northern Finland birth cohort 1966) was performed with 5889 women born in 1966 and followed from birth to age 50 years. Postal questionnaires at ages 31 and 46 years addressed questions on reproductive capacity evaluated by decreased fecundability, need for infertility assessment and treatment by 46 years of age. Childlessness and number of children by age 50 years were recovered from registers. Women who did not report ever having attempted to achieve pregnancy (n = 1507) were excluded. The final study population included 4382 women who attempted to achieve pregnancy before age 46 years.
Participants/materials, setting, methods: Data on BMI were collected by trained personnel at all stages. We assessed association with both prospectively measured BMI at various time points and with early adiposity phenotypes derived from linear mixed models including the timing and the BMI at adiposity peak (AP) and adiposity rebound (AR). Self-reported infertility assessments and treatments were assessed at ages 31 and 46 years. Data on deliveries were collected from the national birth register. Decreased fecundability was defined at age 31 years as time to achieve pregnancy over 12 months. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with adjustments for marital status, education level and smoking at age 31 years. Women with PCOS were excluded from stratification-based sensitivity analyses. Obesity at a specific age group was defined by having at least one BMI value above the 95th percentile during the related period.
Main results and the role of chance: BMI at the age of AR (5–7 years) was not associated with fertility outcomes after adjustments, but girls with AR <5.1 years had a higher risk of remaining childless compared to girls with AR over 5.1 years (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 1.45 (1.10–1.92)). At ages 7–10 and 11–15 years, obesity was associated with decreased fecundability (adjusted OR 2.05 (1.26–3.35) and 2.04 (1.21–3.44), respectively) and a lower number of children. At age 11–15 years, both overweight and obesity were associated with a higher risk of childlessness (adjusted OR 1.56 (1.06–2.27), 1.77 (1.02–3.07), respectively), even after excluding women with PCOS. Underweight at age 11–15 years was associated with an increased risk for infertility treatment (adjusted OR 1.55 (1.02–2.36)) and a tendency for an increased risk for infertility assessment (adjusted OR 1.43 (0.97–2.10)) after excluding women with PCOS.
Limitations, reason for caution: Despite a high participation rate throughout the follow-up, some growth data for children over the different age groups were missing. Infertility outcomes were self-reported. A potential over-diagnosis of obesity may have reduced the significance of the association between childhood obesity and fertility outcomes, and the diagnosis of PCOS was self-reported.
Wider implications of the findings: This study supports previous results showing that girls with obesity in late childhood and in adolescence displayed reduced fertility and an increased risk of remaining childless in adulthood, independently of marital history and PCOS in adulthood. These findings corroborate the body of evidence for a causal relation between early adiposity and the reproductive functions in women. We recommend reinforcing the prevention of obesity in school-age girls to reduce the risk of impaired reproductive functions.
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