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Nutritional Epidemiology (Poster Session)

(P13-007-24) Does Energy Intake Affect the Fertility Status of Female Adults in the United States?

Sunday, June 30, 2024
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM CT
Location: Poster Board 396

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Catherine C. Barry, MSPH

    Research Assistant
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
    New City, New York, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • ST

    Samadhi Thavarajah, BS

    Student
    Johns Hopkins University
    Pendleton, South Carolina, United States

Disclosure(s):
Catherine C. Barry, MSPH: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Samadhi Thavarajah, BS: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: Despite infertility affecting one in five women in the United States, few studies have explored the effects of energy intake on fertility status at a population level. Both excess and insufficient energy intake are associated with disruptions in physiological processes required for reproduction. This study sought to evaluate whether energy intake or being on a low-calorie diet was associated with infertility status in individuals who identified as female in the United States.

Methods: Dietary and reproductive data were collected from the 2017- 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants who identified as female were excluded from analyses if they were < 20 or >44 years of age, had a history of a hysterectomy, or had both ovaries removed. Total energy intake was calculated from the first day of the participants’ 24-hour dietary recall. Participants were classified as “infertile” if they answered “yes” to the question, “Have you ever attempted to become pregnant over a period of at least a year without becoming pregnant?” and were classified as being on a low-calorie diet if they answered “yes” to being on a special diet and reported that the special diet was a “weight-loss/low-calorie diet.” Multiple logistic regression models were used to determine the association between infertility status and energy intake. Energy intake was grouped by increments of 500 kilocalories (kcal) for 12 groups, with the 1500-1999 kcal group set as the reference. 

Results: Twenty five percent of fertile participants and 29% of participants who were infertile consumed between 1500-1999 kcal. The mean energy intake of participants classified as infertile (n=173) was 1960 (SD: 749) kcal versus 1973 (SD: 794) kcal in fertile participants (n=1250) (p >0.05). Preliminary data analysis revealed the odds of infertility in all caloric intake groups were not significantly different from the reference category after adjusting for age, race, and education status (p >0.05). Of participants who reported being on a low-calorie diet, 19% of participants also reported being infertile.

Conclusions: There was a sizable proportion of participants who were infertile while being on a low-calorie diet. This suggests a need for more robust research using a larger sample size to further explore the relationship between energy intake, energy status, and fertility.

Funding Sources: N/A