Female Fertility And The Body Fat Connection

Are girls entering puberty earlier than they used to? This question, which has been debated recently by doctors and scientists in the pages of Time magazine and the New York Times, proves that there is still a great deal to learn about women's reproductive health. Female Fertility and the Body-Fat Connection is the record of one scientist's groundbreaking and decades-long work on the connections among fertility, body fat, and reproductive health in women. Rose E. Frisch explains here how, in women, a certain amount of body fat is crucial to the reproductive system and sexual maturation. Women who are too lean are infertile and cannot conceive children; young girls who are too thin have a delayed onset of their first period. Female Fertility and the Body-Fat Connection illuminates how and why a "critical fitness" level underlies a woman's reproductive health. In the process Frisch gives readers a comprehensive view of the research done to date on the relationship between body composition and fertility and also describes her own journey as a woman scientist working to advance her critical-fitness hypothesis both to the general public and the scientific community. Frisch answers the questions every woman has about the desirable weight for health and fertility and even includes tables to help women find their own best weight. She also demonstrates how important diet and exercise are for the long-term reproductive health of women, and shows what factors influence the onset of puberty in girls. Each milestone of the reproductive life span is affected by food intake and energy output, the factors affecting the storage of fat. Female Fertility and the Body-Fat Connection is a cornerstone to understanding the health of girls and women.

If you have been told that you need to lose weight to get pregnant, you're probably feeling pretty crap right now. Your mind is going a million miles a minute: - frantically searching for another way to try and lose weight, - feeling so guilty that you could have let yourself get to this point, - swallowed by the utter sadness that you can't do the one thing in the world that you want most, to get pregnant. You are in the right place, my friend. In this book, Nicola breaks down the stigma that surrounds people who want to get pregnant in fat bodies. In a mix of personal experience, supportive advice and real research, she: - dives deep into what it means to get pregnant in a fat body, - offers tools to support you throughout the journey - and guides you through the twists and turns you may experience as you navigate infertility in a bigger body. Nicola Salmon is a fat-positive and feminist fertility coach. She advocates for change in how fat women are treated on their fertility journey and supports fat women who are struggling to get pregnant to find peace with their body, find their own version of health and finally escape the yo-yo dieting cycle.

The Oxford Handbook of Women and Competition is one of the first scholarly volumes to focus specifically on competition and the competitive forces between women. Chapters provide readers with a definitive view of the current state of research, and collectively address the adaptive and socio-cultural foundations of women's competitive behavior, motivations, and cognitions.

Despite the West's privileging of slenderness as an aesthetic ideal, the African Diaspora has historically displayed a resistance to the Western European and North American indulgence in 'fat anxiety.' The Embodiment of Disobedience explores the ways in which the African Diaspora has rejected the West's efforts to impose imperatives of slenderness and mass market fat-anxiety. Author Andrea Shaw explores the origins and contradictions of this phenomenon, especially the cultural deviations in beauty criteria and the related social and cultural practices. Unique in its examination of how both fatness and blackness interact on literary cultural planes, this book also offers a diasporic scope that develops previously unexamined connections among female representations throughout the African Diaspora.

Sexual conflict - what happens when the reproductive interests of males and females diverge - occurs in all sexually reproducing species, including humans. This is the first volume to assemble the latest theoretical and empirical work on sexual conflict in humans from the leading scholars in the fields of evolutionary psychology and anthropology.

Embarking on IVF - or any assisted fertility treatment - can be a very demanding and stressful experience, but the right physical, nutritional and emotional support can lessen these stresses and strains and increase your chances of success. In Zita West's Guide to Fertility and Assisted Conception leading fertility and pregnancy expert, Zita West, offers an in-depth explanation of all aspects of fertility and, uniquely, addresses the issues involved in using assisted conception. In her clear, yet sensitive, style Zita explains: - All aspects of fertility - from preconception and trying naturally through to assisted conception - What is involved in the IVF process - How to prepare your body to increase your chances of conceiving successfully - The importance of a proactive approach to diet and nutrition - How complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, can increase your chances of success Including interviews with leading experts in the field, case histories from patients and Zita's own holistic principles, this is an invaluable guide for the growing number of people who are considering, or have already embarked on, medical intervention to enable them to conceive.

A zoologist explores the unique evolution of the female body in this fascinating study of social, historical, and biological influences. Humans are the only mammals whose females have curvy bodies. In Curvology, zoologist David Bainbridge uses his scientific know-how to explore this anatomical mystery. With wide ranging data and analysis, he delves into the social and psychological consequences of our fixation with curves and fat. Blending evolutionary biology, cultural observation, and cutting-edge psychology, Bainbridge critically synthesize the science and history of women’s body shape, from ancient homonids to the age of the selfie, offering insights into how women’s bodies became objects of fascination and raising awareness about what this scrutiny does to our brains. Packed with controversial and compelling findings that drive us to think about the significance of our curves and what they mean for future generations, Curvology offers not just a compelling collection of facts and studies, but a fascinating take on human evolution.

Fertility Awareness is key to understanding sexual and reproductive health at all life stages. It can be used to either plan or avoid pregnancy. Fertility Awareness Methods (FAMs) are highly effective when motivated couples are taught by trained practitioners. These methods are in demand for ecological, medical, cultural, religious and moral reasons. The ability to control fertility naturally is a lifestyle choice. The Complete Guide to Fertility Awareness provides the science and methodology suitable for health professionals and a general audience. It covers reproductive physiology and the fertility indicators: temperature, cervical secretions and cycle length calculations. It explores ways to optimise conception and to manage conception delays. Case studies and self-assessment exercises are included throughout. The book addresses the scientific credibility of new technologies including fertility apps, home test kits, monitors and devices. The Complete Guide to Fertility Awareness offers: evidence-based information for general practitioners, practice nurses, school nurses, midwives, sexual health doctors and nurses a unique perspective on subfertility for gynaecologists and fertility nurses an authoritative source of reference for medical, nursing and midwifery students a straightforward and practical reference for new and experienced FAM users the core text for the FertilityUK Advanced Skills Course in Fertility Awareness