Note: There have been new corrections throughout this article.
An unusual new study has come out announcing that women who have a small waist-hip ratio tend to have children with higher IQs.
Yes, you read that right. Your IQ may be directly correlated to the size of your mom’s hips compared to her waist.
It sounds like utter nonsense but the study was conducted by the University of Oxford, a pretty darn accredited source.
But the potential to have smart babies isn’t the only good news for women with curvy bottom halves.
The study also showed that women with small waist-hip ratios tend to be more intelligent and healthier. There’s also evidence tying this physical characteristic to the ability to resist long-term diseases and better cholesterol and glucose regulation.
The link with smarter children has to do with the mother’s bodily levels of Omega-3 fatty acids that are passed to infants in breast milk. Omega-3s are vital for important brain development.
OK, the study as a whole is a wee bit more complicated than that.
Snopes ran an article to fact check these claims and found that it’s not about butt size, though.
“Public health officials have harped on actively taking steps to reduce obesity, but it seems for some genetically lucky individuals, reducing their body fat isn’t as important,” read that report.
“A new review published by researchers at the University of Oxford and Churchill Hospital in the United Kingdom suggests that people who carry their body fat in their thighs and backside aren’t just carrying extra weight but also some extra protection against diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions associated with obesity.”
So, in short, it’s a little bit more complicated than hip, waist, or butt size.
However, there still might be links to body fat storage and childhood brain development.
The “big butt” craze reached its peak in recent years, so it’s no surprise that media outlets loved the Oxford research. Celebrities from Kim Kardashian to Nicki Minaj have actually gotten a reputation for their large butts. Meanwhile, Meghan Trainor’s 2014 hit “All About That Bass” made it sexy to have an endowed derriere.
“I’m bringing booty back,” sang Trainor.
“Go ‘head and tell them skinny bitches that/No, I’m just playing, I know you think you’re fat/But I’m here to tell you/Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top.”
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian is so proud of her naturally large backside that she once had an X-ray done on live TV to quell rumors that she had had glute implants. She also spoke out on Twitter defending the size of her backside and reiterating that she had never undergone surgery on the site.
“I’m seeing all these nonsense tabloids claiming I have butt implants-injections,” wrote Kardashian.
“Get a life! Using pics of me 15lbs skinnier (before I had my baby) comparing to me now! I still have weight to lose.”
Whether or not there’s conclusive evidence to prove that big butts make smart babies, you can start using that research as proof of your own genius — and a reason to have an extra cookie.
Corrections have been issued regarding this article:
The actual study regarding this topic reads:
“Upper-body fat has negative effects and lower-body fat has positive effects on the supply of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids that are essential for neurodevelopment. Thus, waist-hip ratio (WHR), a useful proxy for the ratio of upper-body fat to lower-body fat, should predict cognitive ability in women and their offspring. Moreover, because teenage mothers and their children compete for these resources, their cognitive development should be compromised, but less so for mothers with lower WHRs. These predictions are supported by data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Controlling for other correlates of cognitive ability, women with lower WHRs and their children have significantly higher cognitive test scores, and teenage mothers with lower WHRs and their children are protected from cognitive decrements associated with teen births. These findings support the idea that WHR reflects the availability of neurodevelopmental resources and thus offer a new explanation for men’s preference for low WHR.”
The study only references the waist-to-hip ratio, not the size or shape of a woman’s bottom.
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