SEATTLE ? Overweight and obese women who take oral contraceptives are 60 percent to 70 percent more likely to get pregnant while on the birth-control pill, respectively, than women of lower weight, according to new findings from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that will be published in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The study, led by epidemiologist Victoria Holt, Ph.D., M.P.H., a member of Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division, is the largest case-control study of its kind to examine the link between body-mass index and oral-contraceptive failure. The research was conducted in collaboration with Delia Scholes, Ph.D., a senior investigator at the Center for Health Studies at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.

"The results of our study represent yet another reason why obesity is a health hazard," Holt said. "Overweight and obese women have a significantly higher risk of getting pregnant while on the pill than women of normal weight, and this translates into a substantial number of unplanned pregnancies." Among 100 women taking oral contraceptives for a year, Holt's study suggests that an additional two to four women will get pregnant due to being overweight or obese.

"This higher risk of pregnancy also translates into a higher number of obesity-related complications of pregnancy, which range from gestational diabetes and high blood pressure to Cesarean delivery," Holt said.

Body-mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. The World Health Organization divides BMI into four categories for both men and women: underweight (18.5 or lower), normal (18.5 to 24.9), overweight (25 to 29.9) and obese (30 or greater). A BMI calculator is available on the National Institutes of Health Web site at http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm

"We found little difference or variation in the risk of contraceptive failure among women who fell
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Contact: Kristen Woodward
kwoodwar@fhcrc.org
206-667-5095
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
29-Dec-2004

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