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BMI and Sexual Functioning

What’s the association in midlife women?

Publish date:: November 23, 2015

Sexual desire and intercourse frequency diminished with years of greater-than-expected weight gain, although women’s overall body mass index (BMI) changes across nearly 14 years follow-up was not associated with overall changes in sexual functioning, according to a study of 2,528 midlife women. Researchers determined:

• Higher baseline BMI was associated with less frequent intercourse (P=0.003)

• Years of greater-than-expected BMI increases relative to women’s overall BMI change trajectory were characterized by less frequent intercourse (P<0.001) and reduced sexual desire (P=0.020).

• Results suggested that adiposity and sexual functioning change concurrently from year to year.

Citation: Nackers LM, Appelhans BM, Segawa E, Janssen I, Dugan S, Kravitz HM. Associations between body mass index and sexual functioning in midlife women: the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Menopause 2015;22(11):1175-1181. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000000452.

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