4 Ways Obesity Can Impact Your Love Life
September 28, 2014Individuals with severe obesity are 25 times more likely to report problems with sexual relationships compared to normal weight people.
Sarah Varney's new book XL Love: How the Obesity Crisis Is Complicating America's Love Life, goes beyond the typical statistics related to obesity and delves into how obesity impacts physical and intimate relationships. Through her two and a half years of research Varney discovered that obesity impacts sexual relationships in several ways.
- Physical barriers - The larger size and shape of partners bodies can make certain positions more difficult or challenging and can be a deterrent to intimacy. While some positions might be impossible, couples should not lose hope, instead keep trying new possibilities. Also physical size can limit stamina.
- Health issues and medications- Common comorbidities to obesity such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypertension, depression, dementia and other ailments can affect sexual function. Also medications used to treat those condition can cause sexual dysfunction.
- Hormone imbalance - Excess fat can lead to changes in hormone levels. Decreased testosterone levels in men can cause erectile dysfunction. In women, changes in estrogen levels affects their menstrual cycle and fertility.
- Body image - Excess weight and excess skin after losing weight can cause individuals to have negative body image and not feel comfortable with their partners seeing them without clothes.
The subjects of the book spoke openly about their experiences. Dana Englehardt told Varney that at 265 pounds she felt indifferent to her husbands advances, eventually her husband stop trying. However, even after undergoing bariatric surgery, Dana realized losing weight did not resolve her sexual issues. She sought therapy for body image issues, and marriage counseling to help her relationship.
"I just thought losing the weight would solve all that. I wouldn't have all these hang-ups," Englehardt said.
Englehart's experience illustrates that while obesity can impact intimacy, individuals of any weight can experience sexual and relationships issues. For those who develop issues after weight gain, merely losing that weight does not often resolve the problem. Emotional and body image issues affect people of all sizes, but can be successful treated with counseling.
Sources: LeTrent, Sarah. "'XL Love': How fat is affecting our sex lives." 22 July 2014. CNN Living.
Dutta, Nirmalya. "10 reasons losing weight is great for your sex life." 8 April 2013. The Health Site.
