New research shows a possible link between male infertility and obesity. 

The link -- based on male BMI (body mass index, which relates height to weight) -- hasn’t been proven and needs further study, the researchers stress.

“To our knowledge this was the first study to examine male BMI and couple fertility. Thus, it is important that the findings will be confirmed or refuted in future studies,” researcher Markku Sallmen, PhD, tells WebMD in an email.

Sallmen worked on the study while at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and is now based at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, Finland.

The study appears in Epidemiology’s September edition.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211802,00.html