Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom.
Am J Hum Biol. 2011 May-Jun;23(3):291-8. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.21151. Epub 2011 Mar 8.
Aging and reproduction have been independently associated with body shape in women, with redistribution of body fat from lower to upper body regions. This may be interpreted as a life history strategy for allocating energy between competing peripheral fat depots for reproduction, and central fat depots for maintenance and survival. It remains unclear whether men show similar life history strategy in shape. The objectives of this study were to investigate associations between shape, age, and number of offspring in both men and women from Thailand.
We analyzed data on body shape from three-dimensional photonic scanning, and number of reported offspring, available for 5,889 men and 6,449 women aged 16-90 years from the Thai National Sizing Survey.
Bearing children was associated with increased upper body girths and decreased lower body girths in women, independent of age, weight and height. Unlike motherhood, fatherhood was not associated with shape outcomes indexing adiposity, but was associated with arm girth, which may represent an index of sexual attractiveness. In those without children, aging was associated with greater upper body girths and reduced lower body girths, in both sexes.
Life history strategy in body shape is apparent in both sexes, with aging associated with a shift of tissue away from the lower limb to the upper body. Such strategy may reflect age-changes in the relative costs and benefits of different regional tissue masses. Changes in fat distribution related to aging and reproduction may contribute to the life-course development of cardiovascular risk.
衰老和生殖已被独立地与女性的体型相关联，其表现为体脂从下半身到上半身的重新分布。这可能被解释为一种在生殖所需的外周脂肪储存库与维持和生存所需的中心脂肪储存库之间分配能量的生活史策略。目前尚不清楚男性的体型是否表现出类似的生活史策略。本研究的目的是调查体型、年龄和泰国男女后代数量之间的关系。
我们分析了来自泰国全国体型调查的 5889 名男性和 6449 名年龄在 16-90 岁的三维光子扫描和报告的后代数量数据，以研究体型。
生育与女性的上半身围度增加和下半身围度减少有关，这与年龄、体重和身高无关。与母亲身份不同，父亲身份与指示肥胖的体型结果无关，但与手臂围度有关，这可能代表性吸引力的指标。在没有孩子的人中，衰老与两性上半身围度的增加和下半身围度的减少有关。
体型的生活史策略在两性中都很明显，衰老与组织从下肢向身体上部转移有关。这种策略可能反映了不同区域组织质量的相对成本和收益的年龄变化。与衰老和生殖相关的脂肪分布变化可能导致心血管风险的生命历程发展。
