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kittinSol -> Could curvy women be more intelligent? (3/19/2008 6:11:58 AM)
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Could curvier women be more intelligent than their skinnier peers? A new study seems to suggest that this is the case. But there may be more to these findings than meets the eyes.
By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
The Claim
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara looked at data from a study of more than 16,000 women and girls from 1988 to 1994 that detailed their body measurements, as well as their education level and their scores on various cognitive tests.
What they report is that women with waists that were about 70 percent of the diameter of their hips scored slightly better on intelligence tests and tended to have a slightly higher level of education than women with a higher waist-to-hip ratio, or WHR.
The study was published in the journal of Evolution and Human Behavior.
"Controlling for other correlates of cognitive ability, women with lower WHRs and their children have significantly higher cognitive test scores," the study authors note in the article.
And the study authors also said that men, whether they know it or not, tend to prefer mates with a lower waist-to-hip ratio because of this advantage.
The researchers suggest that the reason for the findings lies in the differences between the fat stored in the hips and legs, and that stored in the belly. The fat surrounding fuller hips and thighs, they said, holds higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which foster brain growth.
http://i.abcnews.com/Health/story?id=3859175&page=1
YAY! Move over, Kate Moss: here we come!
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