Bodacious Babes: Big Butts Beneficial

From Fergie to J. Lo, stars today proudly display their “bootylicious” derrieres.  And now, women may have another reason to be proud of their big behinds. 

A study done by Harvard Medical School suggests that having a certain type of fat stored in one’s buttocks and thighs may help prevent diabetes.

While being overweight is believed to be a contributing factor to diabetes, the Harvard professor who led the study, C. Ronald Kahn, claims that it depends on where the fat is located on the body.

“What we found was that moving the fat under skin and hips … actually improved metabolism,” Kahn said in an interview with The Harvard Crimson.

Kahn tested the reaction of mice when he injected fat from the lower body into their abdomens.  The study found that the mice’s insulin levels decreased, and overall, the mice lost weight.

“What we are trying to do now,” Kahn said,  “is to show if transplanting fat would actually protect you against diabetes or bad effects of obesity even if you’re on a high-fat diet.”

Although these findings could mean big things (in more ways than one), some aren’t as sure that the study will have a positive effect on today’s society. 

“It’s definitely something that will raise an eyebrow,” said Tamika Odum, program manager of outreach and education at the University of Cincinnati Women’s Center.  “But I think spinning it from the terms of being ‘bootylicious’ isn’t quite right.”

Odum worries that the results of the study will give women who are obsessed with body image just one more reason to consider plastic surgery.

“It could have an actual adverse effect … because now here’s another excuse.”  The study’s focus on moving the fat to another area of the body through surgery concerned Odum because there was little mention of the negative effects of plastic surgery. 

Leah Goins, a first-year communications and Spanish student, doesn’t think the study will have much effect on body image.

“I think the societal idea of a woman’s body is too strong for something like this to change it,” Goins said.  She added that in today’s world, “Everything causes or helps cancer, diabetes and every other disease.”

“I don’t think this study will change people’s perspective on body image because a big butt does not necessarily mean someone is overweight,” said Julie Spohn, a first-year social work student.

Kahn now plans to try and figure out what it is about the fat from the lower regions that makes it more beneficial than abdominal fat.  He hopes to figure out which kinds proteins lowered the mice’s insulin levels.

“Even though fat has been around forever, there are still a lot of things we don’t understand,” Kahn said.

While Odum found the study interesting, she had concerns about the nature of the information.

“Now you have this new trend of plastic surgery and women may opt for that as a healthy mechanism, which has another set of risks itself,” Odum said.