Your health: Study says some sun may increase chances of getting pregnant

Sun may up chances of getting pregnant

Soaking up the sun may increase the chances of getting pregnant by a third, according to new research.

The Daily Mail reports that increased exposure to the sun can help women have babies and that the weather a month before conception is actually the most important time to catch some rays.

Belgian researcher Frank Vandekerckhove took the IVF results of about 6,000 women while researching the correlation between the dates of treatment and weather conditions.

He found although there was no link between the weather and the actual date of IVF treatment, there was a pattern that emerged when looking at one month prior.

Sunshine, temperatures, and clear skies improved fertility treatment results. The research suggests the link between fertility and sunshine was the strongest, increasing IVF success by 35 percent. Vandekerckhove said exposure to the sun a month before conception is likely to help with the maturing of a woman's eggs.

Researchers attribute this to the raised levels of vitamin D and altering levels of melatonin, which helps regulate a woman's reproductive cycle.

Critics decry Belly Button Challenge

Have you heard of the Belly Button Challenge?

It is attempting to reach around one's back and touch one's belly button to prove one is svelte enough to do so, reports The Washington Post.

The trend has exploded on Chinese social media — and been criticized by those who point out it promotes unhealthy ideas about body image.

“A successful attempt is met with praise and affirmation, under the pretense that the challenge is a test of health and fitness,” James Hamblin of the Atlantic wrote in “Don't Try the Belly Button Challenge.”

“You are thin enough to reach around yourself, so you must be OK. An unsuccessful attempt is met with quiet inward shame.”

The challenge, it was said, not only proved triggering to those battling eating disorders who seek “thinspiration,” but also did not prove good health.

“It's actually a test of shoulder flexibility, not fitness,” Hamblin wrote. “The shoulder has the greatest range of motion of any joint in the body. If you're looking to impress people, how about telling them that fact?”

Though the Daily Mail wrote that the challenge was the No. 1 trending topic on Weibo — that's Chinese Twitter — Westerners were frowning.

“I find it infuriating every time one of these idiotic trends pops ups, but the fact that millions of people fall for them and let them impact the way they feel about themselves makes me incredibly sad,” Marci Warhaft-Nadler wrote at the Huffington Post.

“What scares me is the fact that a lot of people don't realize just how dangerous these fads can be for anyone battling an eating disorder and how many people that actually is.”