Does being fat make sex less fun?

(CBS) Is fat sex bad sex? That's the suggestion of a stark new study showing that obese people - especially obese women - are less satisfied with their sex lives than the general population.

Researchers at Duke University asked 134 women and 91 men to complete a detailed questionnaire about their sexual behavior, which included questions about sex drive, arousal, orgasms, and relationships. All of the participants were obese, though none so fat that it was impossible to have sex.

"We found that there was lower sexual satisfaction and lower sexual quality of life among women than men, and overall sexual quality of life was low among both groups," Dr. Truls Ostbye, professor of community and family medicine at the university, said in a written statement.

The men who completed the questionnaire were less satisfied sexually than the general population, but more satisfied than a group of cancer survivors whose sexual satisfaction had also been surveyed.

And the women? They were less sexually satisfied than the general population and the cancer survivors.

The study didn't say exactly why sex might be less satisfying for fat people. But Dr. Ostbye said the sexual concerns of obese people don't often get discussed in doctors' offices - and offered a possible fix for that problem.

Doctors "should keep in mind the possibility of reduced sexual qualify of life among their obese patients, and invite them to discuss this issue," he said in the statement.

The study was published in the May/June issue of the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.