New research has found that boys who are overweight also have an increased risk of infertility in adulthood.
Researchers studying male infertility reviewed medical data on 268 boys ages 2 to 18 who were referred to the University of Catania in Sicily for weight management.
For the research, published in the European Journal of Endocrinology, experts collected data on testicular volume, body mass index and insulin resistance. They found that normal-weight boys had 1.5 times the size of testes compared to obese boys.
In addition, boys in the study with normal insulin levels had 1.5 to 2 times larger testicles than boys with high insulin levels, which is often associated with type 2 diabetes.
Low testicular volume is a predictor of poor sperm production in adulthood, the researchers said. According to the World Health Organization, more than 48 million couples suffer from infertility. Male infertility accounts for about half of all infertility cases, but the cause of most of them is impossible to pinpoint, the researchers said.
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