Eating disorders affect approximately seven million American women each year and tend to peak during childbearing years.
A team of researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, UK, found women with anorexia and bulimia tend to be more difficult to conceive.
Eating disorders are common in women of childbearing age. A recent Swedish study of women who had given birth recently found that 11.5 percent had a past or current eating disorder. Anorexia and bulimia can have a powerful impact on fertility, as well as the health of both mother and baby during pregnancy and thereafter.
Pregnancy is a time when body image concerns are more prevalent, and for those who are struggling with an eating disorder, the nine months of pregnancy can cause disorders to become more serious.
One study at an infertility clinic found that more than half their patients with irregular or absent periods had an eating disorder, often either unrecognized or untreated. It is generally possible (though unwise) to induce pregnancy in these women, and many would prefer fertility treatment to eating disorder treatment.
However, most of these women will conceive on their own with normalization of their weight and eating behaviors, and the resulting pregnancies and babies will be safer and healthier this way.
By involving 11,088 women, the research was done when pregnancy were at 12 and 18 weeks. Among women, 171 people or 1.5 per cent had experienced anorexia, 199 people or 1.8 per cent had experienced bulimia and another 82 people or 0.7 percent had both.
In women with eating disorders it may take up to 6-12 months to achieve pregnancy, compared to those who never had eating problems. Women with eating disorders two times more often get therapy to get pregnant, with a ratio of 6.2 percent versus 2.7 percent in the group of healthy women.
How do eating disorders affect fertility?
Eating disorders, particularly anorexia, affect fertility by reducing your chances of conceiving. Most women with anorexia do not have menstrual cycles, and approximately 50% of women struggling with bulimia do not have regular menstrual cycles. The absence of menstruation is caused by reduced calorie intake, excessive exercise, and/or psychological stress. If a woman is not having regular periods, getting pregnant can be very challenging.
Two of the most common types of eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia involves obsessive dieting or starvation to control weight gain. Bulimia involves binge eating and vomiting or using laxatives to rid the body of excess calories. Both types of eating disorders may negatively affect the reproductive process and pregnancy.
