"A mother's perspective on food and shape is passed down to her daughter in a different way that can be just as influential as genetic body type. A mother's attitude toward food has a powerful impact on the one you develop yourself. If a mother is worried about her weight, she often transfers that concern to her daughter and attempts to manage the girl's weight by restricting or withholding certain foods. Unfortunately, that strategy also has exactly the opposite effects. It makes those foods more interesting and attractive, and the girl can develop a weight problem she might not have had otherwise."

- Leann L. Birch, PhD, Penn State University.

" Apple shaped bodies are more genetically linked that pear or skinny ones. Some speculate this is because you also inherit genes from your father, and men typically store extra pounds in the gut. So if your mother carries weight in her stomach too, it could increase your chances of being an apple."

- Women's Health Magazine

This is somewhat depressing. Because my mum is an apple shaped woman, and so am I. And I have a male for a father, so I am destined to be an apple =/ This is why I would rather have sons that daughters in the future, because I do not wish to see myself in my own daughter.