Obesity is a modern disease that may be associated with sexual dysfunction, the inability to participate in a pleasurable sexual relationship. Sexual dysfunction is more common in women than men. The objective of this study was to investigate risk factors for sexual dysfunction in obese women. Articles in English and Portuguese published between 1996 and 2018 in the Medline/PubMed and SciELO databases were identified using the terms "sexuality" AND "sexual dysfunction" AND "obesity" AND "overweight" AND "body mass index" AND "women". The results showed that female sexual dysfunction, a complex multifactorial disease that is correlated to health status, can be influenced by obesity. Thus, it can be concluded that weight loss, lifestyle changes and a healthy diet, treatment of complications associated with obesity, and use of non-hormonal contraceptives can lead to an improvement in female sexual function and, consequently, the quality of life of women.

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