Curvy mothers have brainier kids?

Question

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.
Now will American woman stop looking revering those skinny ugly models and stop with the anorexia/bulemia?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19626295.600-curvy-mothers-have-brainier-kids.html
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)

Now will American woman stop looking revering those skinny ugly models and stop with the anorexia/bulemia?

UP....I highly doubt that. This may be a new study but it is not a new discovery. Good health, along with brain function involves a good hip to waist ratio as the study says. Small waist and curvy body.
An increase/large girth is a primary sign of conditions such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes etc.
So girls should not be focusing on weight, but should focus more on their hip to waist ratio. How does one maintain a balance? Eating healthy, NOT eating less.

bijou..i think what the article is saying is that women with a good hip to waist ratio are more healthy than ones that dont. if a woman is healthy , chances are she has fat in her hips to make that ratio possible. if u want to do a little research, fat is very important for brain function and development.
this is why it is inadviseable to let children become vegitarians.

Answer 1

Yeah, but FAT mothers have unhealthy children. That is a scientific fact as well. There is nothing wrong with being thin, it is healthy and fit, and how the human body was designed to be. I am not saying a mother or pregnant woman (or anyone) should be overly thin, that can be bad for a baby too, but being too fat puts a child at risk as well.

Answer 2

This makes good sense. I know a girl who was eating low-fat everything while pregnant, and I certainly DID warn her that the baby's brain needs fats to develop properly, so she should eat an avacado at least once in while, and shouldn't be shunning butter, oils, and whole milk products. Myelin, which coats the baby's brain connections, is made of fats.

The obsession with skinniness has reached even pregnant women. This is SO unhealthy. Yes, they shouldn't just eat potato chips all day. But eating right when preggers is NOT the same as eating right as an adult. This is such a concern to me, as I am in my 20's and come into contact with lots of pregnant girls who are carefully counting calories! Scary.

I really hope that this information will reach the general public. If you don't have enough fat while pregnant, you are doing your baby a disservice. Follow what your body tells you to do when pregnant, and any extra weight will come off easily by the time baby is toddling around. I gained 50 pounds with my first baby, (not on junk food, but on "real" food) and easily was back to my old size within the year. if you don't have food issues in your normal life, don't start having them when you're pregnant. If you always did have food issues? Now is the time to work through them and accept your body.

Answer 3

This is only an article abstract; we can't say anything if we haven't read the actual article in its entirety. There can be a host of problems with methodology, but we will never know...

At any rate, the claim that "CURVIER women MAY have smart children" tells us nothing. It may - and it may not make a speck of difference either. Who knows?

"Now will American woman stop looking revering those skinny ugly models and stop with the anorexia/bulemia?"

Why is there no happy medium; all I see is extremes here, and ambiguity. How 'curvy' is curvey? How fat is curvey? It's not the 'hips' where the fat accumulates anyway -

it's on the a$$!

Think about it; this article abstract tells us nothing.

Answer 4

I'm not one of those skinny models but I'm not really curvy either. When I gain weight, I tend to put it on around my middle, not my hips and thighs. I believe that if I were fat, I would have upper body obesity and I've heard that's less healthy than having all the fat below the waist.

Answer 5

I'm curious. were there any studies to follow this up. the fact is we rarely burn fat from our hips unless we stop eating and increase our activity level, right? so how are the fetuses benefiting from that fat? most pregnant women will eat a little more than they normally would, they are generally more conscious of what foods they are eating and they take prenatal vitamins. i think ultimately healthier brains may be the result of moms consumption more so than hip to waist ratio. of course I'm not a doctor, i just play one in the bedroom ;)

Answer 6

Yes that is true.
Women with 12 inch difference between their waist sizes and hip sizes are healthiest. ( e.g. 25 waist and 37 hips ).
However if these women are obese, then their babies will have birth defects.
Women who are 5 feet tall to 5 feet 5 inches should gain only 25 pounds, 35 pounds if they're having twins, and 40 pounds if they're having triplets during their pregnancies.
Women who are 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches should gain only 30 pounds, 40 pounds if they're having twins, and 45 pounds if they're having triplets.
Women who are over 5 feet 8 ionches should gain only 40 pounds, 50 of they're having twins, and 55 pounds if they're having triplets.
Being grossly obese is unhealthy, unattractive and unacceptable.

Answer 7

What can make kids smarter is when mothers breastfeed. Breastmilk has the essential fatty acids that aid in Brain development. Fat that women store on their hips is generally used for breastfeeding as that is where most women gain the most fat in pregnancy.

Answer 8

Btw, low waist-hip ratio doesn't necessarily mean that you're not skinny, it just means your hips are much bigger than your waist (you can be fat/obese and have a high hip-waist ratio) - so this doesn't have any bearing on the "size zero debate" etc.

Answer 9

I never thought of it like that; though I've hear that women who nurse should have a bit of extra fat, cause it helps with nursing.
All of my life I've had a low waist good not too wide hip ratio, fell mostly in the 24 36 ratio.

Answer 10

Cool. My waist/hip ratio is .7. But I already knew my kid was gonna be a genius...and incredibly good-looking...and very humble, of course!

Answer 11

by that equation if i had a kid he or she would be a friggin genius...

while i am fat my waist is about 16 inches or so smaller than my hips.

i weigh in the 250s.

oh and to the first poster...dont ever assume that all fat parents are unhealthy with unhealthy children.