Research from a study that was published in Obstetrics and Gynecology revealed that being overweight can make a woman's birth control pills less effective. According to the study, 5% of women who are considered overweight according to their body mass index (BMI) get pregnant every year on the pill while only 3% of women who have a normal BMI have unplanned pregnancies on birth control pills.
Why Those Extra Pounds May Make Birth Control Pills Less Effective
The study showed that the higher a woman's BMI, the less effective her birth control pills became. There are several different explanations that are being considered as the reason for birth control being less effective in overweight women.
Most birth control pills nowadays have approximately 20-35 mcg of estrogen, which is far less than the pill had just 10 years go. Pharmaceutical companies are making more low-dose pills to help with their unwanted side effects such as weight gain, acne, and headaches. Just like any type of medicine, the pill has to circulate through the woman's bloodstream, which means if a woman has more mass, the pill may not be able to circulate as needed to produce the utmost effectiveness.
Another explanation is that despite what many people think, larger women have higher metabolisms since they need to support more weight. This means that when a woman takes her pill it may be metabolized much faster than it would in a woman who has a healthy BMI and an average metabolism.
The last explanation has to do with the fat that is stored in the body. Hormones like estrogen and progestin, which are found in birth control pills, are stored in fat cells in the body. This means that if a woman has more fat cells, she runs a greater risk of the hormones being stored in these cells rather than being circulated by the body. This lessens the amount of hormone that is taken in her bloodstream which means the pills become less effective.
Who Has to be Concerned about Less Effective Birth Control Pills?
Women who are taking birth control pills and have a BMI greater than 28 have a 60% increased risk of having an unplanned pregnancy on the pill. The good thing is that there is something that can be done about it. According to the study, even losing five or 10 pounds can start decreasing the risk of birth control being ineffective. Women with the lowest risk weighed 165 pounds or less and had a BMI of under 25.
Simply burning an extra 500 calories a day through exercise or a reduced calorie diet can help a person lose anywhere from one to two pounds in a week. That means that within a month, a person can lose up to eight to 10 pounds and put herself at less of a risk of her birth control pills failing.
Any woman who is on birth control pills and has a BMI of over 25 and doesn't want a baby anytime soon needs to start considering losing weight now, as well as using a different form contraceptive. Start with getting exercise at least three to four days a week for 30 minutes a day. Even just a simple walk around the neighborhood can be a great start. Aim for a healthy diet of approximately 1500 calories to start off with.
Birth control pills' ineffectiveness for overweight women is just another motivating reason why women should get down to a healthy BMI and lose those extra pounds for good. The great thing is that women can kill two birds with one stone – they can lose weight and look and feel better as well as not have to worry about the birth control pills being less effective because of their weight.
To calculate BMI visit the CDC Website.
Source:
USNews.com "Overweight Women On the Pill Should Consider Additional Contraception" (accessed 6/17/2010)
Babycenter.com (accessed 6/17/2010)
Tiffany Brunskole - Tiffany is a freelance writer and web marketer. She has over three years of experience writing quality content for the web. She spends ...
Join the Conversation