Women with a curvy figure are brighter and give birth to brainier kids, according to a new study.
 
    Ever wonder why men find curvaceous women more attractive? Well, that’s because women with a curvy figure are brighter and give birth to brainier kids, according to a new study.

    Scientists at the Universities of Pittsburgh and California found that women with large hips and small waists are cleverer than those with either “apple-shaped” or linear bodies.

    The study, to be published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, also discovered that curvaceous women give birth to more intelligent children because hip fat contains polyunsaturated fatty acids critical for the development of the fetus's brain.

    The researchers believe that the results shed light on why many men find curvy women more alluring.

    For the research, the team used data from a study of 16,000 women and girls, which collected details of their body measurements and their scores in cognitive tests.

    They found that those women with a greater difference between the waist and hips scored considerably higher on the tests, as did their children.

    The researchers say that the ideal ratio for an intelligent curvy woman lies between 0.6 and 0.7.

    They suggest that the fat around fuller hips and thighs contains higher levels of omega3 fatty acids which are essential for the growth of the brain during pregnancy.

    The team said that their findings may also explain why children born to teenage mothers do worse in cognitive tests - because their mothers may have had deficient stores of the best fatty acids.

    “The cognitive development of their children is reduced, and their own cognitive development is impaired compared with those mothers with a later first birth,” Times Online quoted the researchers, as saying.

    The study noted, however, that children born to teenage girls with traditional hourglass figures seemed to be protected from this phenomenon and fared better in tests.

    想知道為什么男人對性感、曲線美的女人更感興趣嗎？一項最新研究發現，那是因為曲線優美的女性更聰明，而且所生的孩子也更聰明。

    匹斯堡和加利福尼亞大學的科學家們發現，擁有“S形”身材的女性比那些“蘋果形”或“竹竿”身材的女性更聰明。

    該研究結果將在《進化與人類行為》期刊上發表。研究還發現，身體曲線優美的女性所生的孩子也更聰明，這主要是因為臀部脂肪中所含的多不飽和脂肪酸對胎兒大腦的發育至關重要。

    研究人員認為，該結果能夠解釋為什么很多男性認為身體曲線突出的女性更具吸引力。

    研究人員對1.6萬名女性的“三圍”數據及她們在認知測試中的得分進行了分析。

    研究人員發現，腰部與臀部尺寸差別較大的女性在認知測試中的得分明顯較高，這些女性所生的孩子也是如此。

    研究人員稱，這些女性腰部與臀部的比例都在0.6至0.7之間。

    據研究人員介紹，較豐滿的臀部和大腿周圍的脂肪中所含的Omega3型脂肪酸更多，這種脂肪酸對于胎兒大腦的發育具有重要作用。
    
    研究小組稱，研究結果還可以解釋為什么少女媽媽所生的孩子在認知測試中的表現較差——這可能是因為少女媽媽的臀部所積蓄的有益脂肪酸量不夠。

    《泰晤士報》網站在報道中援引研究人員的話說：“這造成孩子的認知發育減緩，與那些晚生育的女性相比，少女媽媽自身的智力發展也受到損害。”

    然而，研究指出，“沙漏形”身材的少女媽媽所生的孩子則似乎沒有出現這種現象，他們在認知測試中的表現還不錯。

    Vocabulary: 

    hourglass figure:“沙漏形”身材