Physical Wellness

Chicken Wing Diet During Pregnancy Linked to Shorter Penises, PETA

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Aug 28, 2013 11:18 AM EDT

Now there's another reason to lay off the chicken wings. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) say that pregnant women who eat chicken wings may be unknowingly shrinking their unborn sons' penises.

This month PETA urged the National Buffalo Wing Festival to ban pregnant women from entering the Saturday and Sunday wing-eating contest for the sake of their unborn children's penis size.

"Pregnant women may want to think twice before chomping on those chicken wings, or their sons could come up short," PETA Associate Director of Campaigns Lindsay Rajt said in a statement.

"Chickens may be little animals, but they suffer in a big way before their wings are hacked off for a stupid contest," Rajit added.

Previous experiments revealed that exposure to phthalates stunted genitalia development in rats.

"These changes in male infants, associated with prenatal exposure to some of the same phthalate metabolites that cause similar alterations in male rodents, suggest that commonly used phthalates may undervirilize humans as well," researchers wrote in the study published by the Study for Future Families.

It's not just boys who'll be in trouble if their mothers find chicken wings irresistible. PETA said that eating chicken wings could also increase women's risk of given birth to children with blocked arteries.

"Eating cholesterol-laden chicken flesh during pregnancy may also increase unborn babies' risk of being born with blocked arteries, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks later in life," Rajit said.

However, many chicken wing enthusiasts are undeterred and would rather taken their doctor's advice.

"If my doctor says I need to watch my eating then I'll listen to the doctor. I'm not going to listen to PETA who claims it has defects," Buffalo resident Krystle Socha told Your News Now.

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