Steatopygia

Categories: Medical terms

Steatopygia is a high degree of fat accumulation in and around the buttocks. The deposit of fat is not confined to the gluteal regions, but extends to the outside and front of the thighs, forming a thick layer reaching sometimes to the knee.

This development constitutes a racial characteristic of the Khoisan. It is specially a feature of the women, but it occurs in a lesser degree in the males (in most genetic variations of Homo sapiens, females tend to exhibit a greater propensity to adipose tissue accumulation in the buttock region as compared with males). It has also been noted among the Pygmies of Central Africa and many Brazilian women. In women it is regarded among them as a sign of beauty: it begins in infancy and is fully developed on the first pregnancy. It is often accompanied by the formation known as the "Khoikhoi apron", elongated labia minora (labia that hang down 4 inches).

Steatopygia would seem to have been a characteristic of a race which once extended from the Gulf of Aden to the Cape of Good Hope, of which stock Khoisan and Pygmies are remnants. The discovery in the caves of the south of France of figures in ivory presenting a remarkable development of the thighs, and even the peculiar prolongation of the nymphae, has been used to support the theory that a steatopygous race once existed in Europe.

What seems certain is that steatopygia in both sexes was fairly widespread among the early races of man. While the Khoisan afford the most noticeable examples of its development, it is by no means rare in other parts of Africa, and occurs even more frequently among Basters of the male sex than among Khoikhoi women.

Medical implications of steatopygia

Steatopygia is related to the gynecoid body build sometimes called the "pear or cello" type and has important medical implications vis a vis the android or "apple" type much more common in males. The fat deposited below the waist is metabolically less harmful than fat above the waist. Thus, "pear" shaped women are at relatively less risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and even breast cancer when they are overweight as opposed to women or men of the "apple" type.es:Esteatopigia pl:Steatopygia pt:Esteatopigia