Are curvy celebrities Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson smarter than the likes of thinner stars like Halle Berry and Kelly Rowlings? Maybe so, suggests a recent study in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. Researchers from the University of Pittsburg and the University of California at Santa Barbara evaluated body measurements, educational level and test scores from more than 16,000 women and girls. They found that 70 percent of women with wider hips and a smaller waist scored only slightly higher in intelligence ratings than those with smaller hips and a wider midsection. The fat stored in fuller hips and thighs is believed to contain higher levels of omega-3s—polyunsaturated fatty acid (good fats)—which stimulate brain growth.
For those with narrower frames, don’t worry—the cognitive differences were small: between the ranges of 3.6 to7 percent.
