Losing weight can spice up a sex life (AP) Updated: 2005-10-18 07:28
Losing a little weight can do wonders for your sex life. So says Duke
University psychologist Martin Binks, who presented a study Monday at a meeting
of The Obesity Society showing that shedding a few pounds can improve things in
the bedroom by making people feel better about their bodies.
"You reap a lot of benefit from a moderate weight loss of 10 percent," Binks
said. "It's a wonderful message. You don't have to reach some ideal weight to be
healthy and happy."
It is one of the few studies to examine the mental and emotional problems
that obesity can cause for intimacy, not just the physical troubles such as
hormone imbalances or impotence.
"There has not been a lot of research in this area," said Dr. Susan Yanovski,
director of obesity research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases. Improving your sex life "would be another good reason to
lose weight if you're obese."
The study involved 161 women and 26 men, average age 45, with an average body
mass index of 41. (A score of 30 or above on this height-and-weight formula is
considered obese).
All were enrolled in a diet program at the Hennepin County Medical Center in
Minneapolis and had lost 17.5 percent of their body weight after one year and 13
percent after two years. (They regained some of the pounds they initially shed).
They answered questions about the quality of their sex lives when the study
began and every three months thereafter. The most striking improvement in
attitudes was seen at three months, when they had lost about 12 percent of their
initial weight.
At the outset, 68 percent of women said they felt sexually unattractive. One
year into the diet, only 26 percent did. About 63 percent originally did not
want to be seen undressed, but only 34 percent felt that way a year later.
Initially, 21 percent of women said they were not enjoying sex; only 11
percent said so after one year.
"The number of males in the study does limit what we can say about men," but
feelings of unattractiveness and unwillingness to be seen naked also applied to
them, Binks said. Even when many of them wanted to have sex, the excess weight
made it an ordeal.
"They'll tell us about simple mechanical difficulty," Binks said.
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