International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health

Correlation between Body Mass Index and Sexual Dynamics

Background: The limited number of studies on sexual quality of life in obesity suggests that this is an area in need of further study.

Objectives: We intended to identify how the BMI (Body Mass Index) affects the subjects’ sexual dynamics.

Methods: A questionnaire with items regarding the sexual life and BMI measurements was used in a sample of 1493 subjects, aged 18-90, randomly selected from urban Romanian areas.

Results: The sample was characterized by average: weight of 72.11 kilograms, height of 1.71 m and a BMI of 24.30. The incidence of cases diagnosed with arterial hypertension is higher in overweight (51.3%) or obese (19.7%) subjects (p<0.001). In the overweight category the men’s proportion was twice higher (p<0.001). As the age increased the proportion of the overweight persons increased (p<0.001). In the entire sample the weekly sexual contacts prevailed (49.1%), most of the subjects reported an average duration of sexual contacts in the last year (without prelude and postlude) of 5-15 minutes (39.1%). The latent class analysis indicated that sexual life quality decrease with age and BMI. The univariate binary logistical regression showed a fragile association between high BMI values and sexual insatisfaction. With no doubt the most influencing variable over BMI and sexual satisfaction is the age, followed by marital status. Although the BMI increases by age yet at adult age (40-50 years) the overweightness and obesity are less frequent to the persons who do not share the household environment.

Conclusion: For the obese people the benefits of weight loss to improve sexual life may be a way to motivate them to start and continue a special nutritional and physical activity program.

Author(s): Cornelia Rada , Ileana Prejbeanu , Adriana Albu, Suzana Manolescu

Abstract | Full-Text | PDF

Share this