Abstract
The present study analyzes body fat distribution, a well-known and important indicator of reproductive capability, in young women between 18 and 28 years of age (mean=23.3 years) suffering from secondary amenorrhea and therefore temporary infertility resulting from self-starvation. Body composition parameters estimated by means of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and the fat distribution index, indicating body shape, were compared with those of healthy controls. Although members of the infertile, amenorrheic group exhibited dramatically low body weight and total amount of body fat, and therefore a marked negative energy balance in comparison with the healthy controls, the sex-specific fat distribution patterns did not differ between infertile and fertile young women. In contrast, the lower the weight and total fat amount, the more gynoid the fat distribution, even in infertile women. This observation may be interpreted in an evolutionary sense: Our ancestors had to cope with frequent food shortages, even starvation, and therefore lengthy periods of negative energy balance. In addition to pregnancy and lactation, temporary infertility as a result of long-term negative energy balance was not an uncommon phenomenon in female life histories. Nevertheless, after a time of plenty, reproductive function recovered, and therefore the gynoid fat distribution patterns in temporarily infertile young women may be interpreted as signal of reproductive capability, which resumes after a time of surplus.
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Prof. Sylvia Kirchengast has a Ph.D. in physical anthropology and master’s degrees in cultural anthropology and psychology. She has taught in the department of anthropology of the University of Vienna since 1994 and was appointed a professor in 1999. Her research interests include the biology of human reproduction, endocrinology, and medical anthropology.
Johannes Huber has a Ph.D. in theology and an M.D. He is a professor and the head of the department of endocrinology and reproductive medicine, obstetrics and gynecology clinic, University of Vienna.
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Kirchengast, S., Huber, J. Fat distribution patterns in young amenorrheic females. Hum Nat 12, 123–140 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-001-1020-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-001-1020-z