Article

This is an original article as printed in the Guardian Weekly which is suitable for advanced comprehension classes or groups. It was written by Polly Curtis.

Fears of infertility crisis as obesity soars

Soaring levels of obesity in the western world are expected to trigger an infertility crisis among women, doctors warn. Britain's leading medical journal The Lancet reports that the obesity epidemic will leave more couples struggling to conceive as women suffer more fertility-related problems.

One expert suggested the proportion of couples seeking infertility treatment could double to one in five within a decade. "We're at the tip of the iceberg," Bill Ledger, professor of obstetrics at the University of Sheffield. But he said the problem could be eased if women lost weight before resorting to medical interventions to get pregnant.

The Lancet study focuses on a common disorder - polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - which affects one in 15 women worldwide. PCOS occurs when women have excess male hormones which cause little cysts to grow on the ovaries. Symptoms include irregular or missed periods, infertility, excess hair, acne and insulin resistance which can make them prone to diabetes.

"Obesity has a substantial effect on the manifestation of PCOS," the paper says. "Excess weight exacerbates metabolic and reproductive abnormalities in women with the syndrome, and family studies suggest weight gain might promote ... PCOS in a susceptible population."

Robert Norman, the lead author at the University of Adelaide, Australia, said: "Obesity doesn't cause PCOS but it exacerbates it ... it's argued that obesity will cause a crisis in infertility and I agree."

"Obesity has huge consequences for fertility but also when you treat someone who is obese and get them pregnant you have increased problems for the pregnancy," said Norman. Problems include diabetes, abnormalities and a decreased chance of a natural labour.

Adult obesity rates have nearly quadrupled in Britain over the past 25 years. Two-thirds of adults are overweight and of these, nearly a quarter are obese.

About 7% of women in Britain have PCOS. This is expected to rise to 10% in the next decade. "It's a problem that needs to be dealt with in life-style changes rather than through surgery," Ledger said.

The paper also reveals that if women lose even a little weight and improve their fitness, their chances of getting pregnant radically improve.

Glossary

obesity

(noun) when a person is very fat in a way that is unhealthy

infertility

(noun) when someone is unable to have a baby

diabetes

(noun) a medical condition caused by a lack of insulin, which controls the amount of sugar absorbed by the blood in the body

Questions

The questions below are divided into three groups - before, during and after reading the above article.

Before reading

Verbs from the article. Match the phrases in A below to the phrases in B to make definitions

1. 1. If you are prone to an illness,
   2. If you seek something,
   3. If you struggle to do something,
   4. If you trigger a problem or crisis,
   5. If you resort to a solution to a particular problem,
   6. If you exacerbate a difficult situation,
2. 1. you cause it to start.
   2. you try it because there is no other answer.
   3. you look for it.
   4. you are likely to suffer from it.
   5. you make it worse.
   6. you try very hard to do it, even though it is difficult for you.

Look at the headline, photo and caption of the article. Check any unknown vocabulary with the glossary. What do you think the article is about?

1. Many babies and young children in Britain are overweight and have diabetes.
2. A large number of British people lead unhealthy life-styles and may have heart problems when they get older.
3. The increasing numbers of overweight people in Britain may mean that some women are unable to have children in the future.
4. More and more British women are giving birth to overweight babies.

While reading

Read the first two paragraphs again. Answer the questions below.

1. Where can you read the new report about obesity?
2. Why is the problem of obesity described as an "epidemic"?
3. What will happen to the number of couples trying infertility treatment over the next 10 years?
4. What phrase does Bill Ledger use to describe the infertility statistics? Why?
5. According to Bill Ledger, how can the problem of infertility be helped?

Read the first two paragraphs of the article to check your ideas.

Read the rest of the article from paragraph three onwards. Look at the possible paragraph titles below. Write the paragraph numbers next to the correct title.

1. Soaring obesity rates in Britain
2. Number of British women with PCOS expected to rise
3. The symptoms of PCOS
4. Two ways for women to improve their chances of getting pregnant
5. Strong link between obesity and the development of PCOS
6. Obesity also causes problems in pregnancy
7. Report author says obesity will cause infertility crisis

After reading

Adjective/noun collocations. Look at this example of an adjective/noun collocation from the photo caption: The UK has high rates of obesity. Look back through the article and find adjective/noun collocations with the following meanings. The relevant paragraph numbers are in brackets.

1. a newspaper about medicine (1)
2. when medicine or surgery is used to make a person better (2)
3. a frequent illness that can stop part of a person's body from working properly (3)
4. when something makes a big change to another thing (4)
5. when a person's body is too heavy (4)
6. the main person who writes a report (5)
7. when something has very important results (6)

Use the phrases from exercise 1 above to complete the summary below.

Reporting Verbs. Look at these reporting verbs from the article. The verbs follow a common pattern of 'verb + that + clause'.

The Lancet reports that the obesity epidemic will leave more couples struggling to conceive ... (para 1)

The paper also reveals that if women lose even a little weight ... their chances of getting pregnant improve. (para 9)

Verbs that follow this pattern are: add, advise, argue, conclude, explain, imply, mention, point out, predict, recommend, report, reveal, say, state, suggest. Report three pieces of information from the article using appropriate verbs.