'Alarming' low testosterone levels found in obese teenage boys

Article here. Excerpt:

'Obese teenage boys are at risk for more than diabetes and heart disease, a new study has found. They also have alarmingly low levels of testosterone - between 40 to 50% less than males of the same age with a normal body mass index.

The study, published this week in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, investigated the effect of obesity on testosterone levels in young males.

It has its origins in earlier research, which showed that type II diabetes and obesity in older men are linked to a high rate (25-33%) of hypogonadism, or low testosterone levels. According to the new study, the rate of hypogonadism in type II diabetic men ages 18-35 is greater than 50%.

In addition, concentrations of free testosterone — testosterone that isn’t chemically bound and thus available to the body — were shown to be negatively related to BMI: The higher the body mass, the lower the concentration.'