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Childrhood obesity does make parents worried and uncomfortable, but a new study might give all the more reasons for parents to try and prevent their children from being overweight. According to a new study, obese teenage boys have up to 50 percent less testosterone than their slimmer counterparts, increasing their risk of infertility later in life.

According to the study by scientists at the University at Buffalo in the U.S, young obese boys aged between 14 and 20 have only about half the testosterone level in comparison with those of normal weight.

"We were surprised to observe a 50 per cent reduction in testosterone in this paediatric study because these obese males were young and were not diabetic. The implications of our findings are, frankly, horrendous because these boys are potentially impotent and infertile. The message is a grim one with massive epidemiological implications," the study's first author Dr Paresh Dandona, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine was quoted as saying by Mail Online.

For the study, the researchers recruited 25 obese and 25 lean adolescents, controlled for age and level of sexual maturity.

The researchers concluded their findings after testing the morning fasting blood samples of the participants to measure the concentrations of total and free testosterone and estradiol, an oestrogen hormone in them.

However, Dr Dandona says that the results of the study need to be further confirmed with larger study sample.

"These findings demonstrate that the effect of obesity is powerful, even in the young, and that lifestyle and nutritional intake starting in childhood have major repercussions throughout all stages of life," Dandona said.

Also, other than the reproductive consequences, Dandona warned that the lower levels of testosterone in men, could lead to abdominal fat, reduced muscle which would in turn lead to insulin resistance, contributing to diabetes.

"The good news is that we know that testosterone levels do return to normal in obese adult males who undergo gastric bypass surgery. It's possible that levels also will return to normal through weight loss as a result of lifestyle change, although this needs to be confirmed by larger studies," he added.

The researchers are now investigating if weight loss accomplished either through lifestyle changes or through pharmacological intervention could restore testosterone levels in obese teenage boys, the report said.

The paper was published online in the journal Clinical Endocrinology.