Sunday, February 24, 2008

318 - Smart curves

CURVIER women may have smart children because hip fat contains polyunsaturated fatty acids critical for the development of the fetus's brain.

Using data from the US National Center for Health Statistics, William Lassek at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and Steven Gaulin of the University of California, Santa Barbara, found a child's performance in cognition tests was linked to their mother's waist-hip ratio, a proxy for how much fat she stores on her hips.

Children whose mothers had wide hips and a low waist-hip ratio scored highest, leading Lassek and Gaulin to suggest that fetuses benefit from a rich supply of useful fatty acids (Evolution and Human Behavior, DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.07.005)

Link - NewScientist

2 comments:

Bilbo said...

So, Hugh Hefner and Bob Guccione were really just child nutritionists helping us to develop better as children, eh? I can't wait to let Agnes know that my subscription to Playboy is really research into child nutrition and early development!

Mike said...

You gotta' work every angle!