Young men with a higher measured body fat percentage had lower total sperm counts than men with less body fat, according to a Danish study of 1,058 participants, and the association was strongest among men whose body mass index placed them in the normal weight category. Men with body fat in the 20 to 24 percent range averaged about 81 million total sperm, compared with about 105 million among men in the normal body fat range. Higher body fat also tracked with a shifted hormone profile: lower testosterone and lower sex hormone-binding globulin, alongside higher estradiol and higher luteinizing hormone. Nis Brix, an associate professor in the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University, summarized the central observation: men with a high body fat percentage "generally had lower sperm counts than men with a normal body fat percentage." In 1,058 young Danish men, higher body fat percentage was associated with lower total sperm count and altered reproductive hormone levels.