Body weight and assessment of sexual life - a cross-sectional study

Body weight can be one of the health effects affecting people's well-being in its many aspects. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between body weight and sexual life. In June 2020 a survey was conducted online on a nationwide representative group of 3,000 Poles. A year later, in June 2021thje survey was repeated on a nationwide representative group of 2,500 Poles. The data obtained from 4,266 respondents were then analyzed. Four proprietary questions were used to assess sexual life, based on which a 3-point scale was developed (2020 - α = 0.80, homogeneity 61%; 2021 - α = 0.77, homogeneity 64%). Excess body weight as measured by BMI was more common in 2021 than in 2020, which confirms the upward trend in body weight in society (55.5% vs. 52.7%). In 2020, more respondents indicated a good assessment of their sexual life than in 2021 (27.3% vs 23.5%, p=0.007). People with excessive body weight rated their sexual life as poorer on the scale (2020 p=0.003; 2021 p=0.009). Multinomial logistic regression showed that people with obesity (BMI>30) had a 1.7 higher increased risk of poor assessment of sexual life than those with normal weight (OR: 1.728; 95% CI: 1.396-2.138; p