It is interesting that since the first carved Venus figures, fertility symbols have always been fat or at least plump. This is no coincidence as female fertility is grounded in female fat. It is an increase in female fat especially the achievement of a critical weight which means the girl has stored enough calories to sustain a foetus that is the physiological trigger for beginning the menstrual cycle. And more than that, female fat plays a crucial role in conception and in supporting a healthy pregnancy.

It is true that fertility problems are common in thin women. If you are too thin, you may have ceased menstruation, or you may be having periods but not ovulating. Menstruation and ovulation might both be present but a very thin woman may still have difficulty conceiving, or may manage to conceive but find they cannot carry a pregnancy to term.


It is interesting then that when underweight women go to their doctors with fertility problems they are rarely advised to put on weight. Doctors, it seems, as well as lay people are of the mindset that slimness is healthy and sexy.


This unswerving belief in the link between slimness and health is in fact a fallacy. It is ironic that in these times when being slim has come to be so closely linked with health, that a number of comprehensive research studies have established that, contrary to popular belief, the longest living people in the population are those who are in fact slightly overweight when compared to what is currently considered the ideal.

According to these studies, the very thin die soonest even when smokers and those with cancer have been excluded and even people who gain 10 pounds with every decade do actually improve their life expectancy Have a read of Never Too Thin, Prentice Hall, 1989 for a summary of the studies that were undertaken.


And yet thin women with fertility problems are given drugs, not dietary recommendations! Well it is rare to see anything advocating being overweight, so I'll take it!