Before women reach menopause they can tend to store fat in their thighs and hips. This tendency gives women what is called a ‘pear-shaped’ body. The reason some women store fat in this way has an evolutionary reason. When women were cave-dwellers this type of fat storage often helped them through drought and famine. During pregnancy and breastfeeding the body needs approximately 1,000 extra calories a day. So women who easily stored fat in their hips and thighs had an advantage as they could use these extra calories to help them give birth and feed their babies during a drought. This ability to store fat in the thighs and hips was passed down through the generations.