By David Liu, PHD

Sunday Aug 19, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Obese women who consider in vitro fertilisation may want to lose some weight prior to the procedure as a new study suggests that weight loss prior to in vitro fertilisation helps improve their odds of having a successful pregnancy.

L. Moran of University of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia and colleagues published the study in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology saying obesity worsens and modest weight loss improves female fertility. 

In the study, overweight women were randomised to lifestyle or standard treatment pre-in vitro fertilisation until embryo transfer. Lifestyle treatment led to a greater reduction in weight compared with standard treatment, which led to no change in body weight.

The researchers found both groups had reductions in waist circumference with no differences between the two groups. The overall rate of pregnancy resulting from in vitro fertilisation was 53% for the two groups combined.