Research
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Adult obesity and overweight significantly increase the odds of PCOS, with adolescents showing even higher odds than adults for the same degree of adiposity.
Maintaining a healthy weight in adulthood reduces PCOS risk, but adolescent weight is even more critical. Adolescents with overweight or obesity face higher odds of developing PCOS than adults with the same conditions. Prioritize healthy weight management during teenage years.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
From the systematic review/meta-analysis, women with overweight (OR 3.80, 2.87–5.03), obesity (OR 4.99, 3.74–6.67)... had increased odds of PCOS. For adolescents with overweight and/or obesity, the PCOS odds were greater than for adults.
Why this rating
Large-scale meta-analysis of 71 studies with consistent findings.
Source
Childhood, adolescent, and adulthood adiposity are associated with risk of PCOS: a Mendelian randomization study with meta-analysis
Laurence J. Dobbie et al. · Human Reproduction · 2023
DOI 10.1093/humrep/dead053
Meta-analysis · 71 studiesCited 72×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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