Childhood Obesity and Infertility

Sorry, I've been radio silent for the past week or so.  We had our floors done and what I thought would be an easy home-improvement proved to be much more challenging.  Without going into boring detail, I'll just say I don't know what the floor guy was thinking when he told me we could stay in the house while the floors were being done, because he wedged our leather couch between the refrigerator and the island!

I found this interesting article in The Jerusalem Post about childhood obesity and infertility.  “The issue of so many humans being obese is very recent in evolutionary terms, and since nutritional status is important to reproduction, metabolic syndromes caused by obesity may profoundly affect reproductive capacity,” said Patrick Chappell.

Obesity can Lead to Infertility

But in general, puberty appears to be starting earlier in girls. It is being accelerated.

This may have several effects, scientists have found. One theory is an impact on kisspeptin, a recently characterized neurohormone necessary for reproduction. Normal secretions of this hormone may be disrupted by endocrine signals from fat that serve to communicate to the brain.

Another possible affect on pubertal timing, and reproduction in general, is disruption of circadian clocks, which reflect the natural rhythms of night and day. Disrupted sleep-wake cycles can affect the secretion of hormones such as cortisol, testosterone, and insulin, researchers have found.

Here is the link to the full article.

My Book at Amazon: Five Strands of Hope ($0.99)