[Sexual development and life of obese women]

The authors examined by means of a structured interview and four questionnaires (heterosexual development of women, sexual activity of women, sexual function of women and N5 assessing the incidence and intensity of neurotic symptoms 100 obese women, mostly aged 21-40 years, who had a regular sex life. 73 of them had BMI values of 22 to 30. In the remaining 27 morbid obesity was involved with BMI values above 30. In the group as a whole the course of sexual development and life did not differ markedly from that of average women. A retarding trend with lower values in questionnaires on sexual activity and sexual function was found in women with primary and morbid obesity. In these sub-groups the number and intensity of neurotic symptoms was elevated. Their intensity in the group as a whole was significantly higher than in the ordinary population.