Study: Pill Not To Blame For Extra Pounds

Young women have lost one excuse in their battle against the post-adolescent bulge.

Penn State College of Medicine researchers found that oral contraceptive use during adolescence is not associated with weight gain or increased body fat. The study is published in the August 2002 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"Until now, most of the major studies on the effects of oral contraceptive use have looked at women aged 20 and over," said lead researcher Tom Lloyd, a professor of health evaluation sciences at Penn State. "This study provides new information about the effects of oral contraceptive use on adolescents and young women."

The researchers began studying 112 healthy female adolescents in 1990 to follow the natural progression of cardiovascular, reproductive and bone health in these women.

"Oral contraceptives prevent pregnancy the same way in teenage women as they do in adult women," said Dr. Richard Legro, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology. "However, we know very little about how a teenager's metabolism may be affected by oral contraceptive use. Because young women's bodies change so much during adolescence, we felt it was important to understand whether using oral contraceptives during these developmental years causes metabolic and physiologic changes."

The researchers found that height, weight, body mass index, body fat and most cardiovascular disease risk factors were similar for oral contraceptive users and nonusers. Low-density lipoproteins, total cholesterol and triglycerides were slightly higher in users than in nonusers, although still within the normal range.

The oral contraceptive study involved 66 females, 39 of which used oral contraceptives for a minimum of six months, were still users at age 21, and had used oral contraceptives for an average of 28 months. The 27 nonusers had never used oral contraceptives.

From ages 16 to 21, researchers took blood samples from the participants once a year to measure cardiolipoprotein levels. From ages 12.5 to 21, they took body composition measurements. Participants filled out questionnaires with information about physical activity so that researchers could adjust results for both body mass index and level of activity.

"Although perceived weight gain is a common complaint among women who use oral contraceptives, previous studies have shown that this is not the case with adult women and this study provides evidence that the body composition of young women using oral contraceptives also is not affected," Legro said. "Based on this new information, we suggest that potential users be counseled by their health care providers accordingly."