Female Fertility and the Body Fat Connection (Women in Culture and Society)

Yes, women, there is such a thing as being too lean--if a working reproductive system is desired, that is. In Female Fertility and the Body Fat Connection, Dr. Rose Frisch neatly condenses 30 years of her own dogged research into one illuminating thesis: a critical, minimum amount of body fat is necessary for reproduction. To prove her theory, Frisch virtually opens her lifelong research journal, offering human sexuality refresher notes here, anthropological perspectives there, anecdotes from worldwide scientific conferences, and a heavy dose of the fascinating studies she has initiated and supported. She shows how body fat (not chronological age) plays the lead role in initiating menarche; how a lack of body fat signals the brain to "turn off" a woman's ability to ovulate; and how exercise and food intake can be maximized for long-term health. Mathematical formulae to help women assess their "fertile" body mass index provide the only tools for encouraging pregnancy here. Frisch calls her work a "scientific saga," undoubtedly because of the trials she endured as a humble researcher toting a whopper of a theory. But, she prophecies, the saga shall further unfold as societies digest--and act upon--these exciting biological discoveries. --Liane Emory Thomas