Having a big butt is all the rage these days and has been for quite some time now. In fact, it's practically inescapable in popular culture, with titillating music videos such as Nicki Minaj's 2014 'Anaconda' and NSFW magazine covers like that one featuring Kim Kardashian's glossy, eye-poppingly large behind back in 2014 - big butts really are everywhere.
Another cultural explanation for our increased fascination for sizable derrières is that we now, more than ever before, associate larger behinds with athleticism and toned muscles.
There are plenty of fitness bloggers on Instagram who can attest to the power of squatting and the effect it has on your glutes. And a lot of young women take inspiration from these influencers and work hard to get themselves their very own round pair of cheeks.
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But according to recent research, the value in having a big butt isn't just in its athletic or sexual appeal. Scientists are now confirming a link between larger derrières and an increased intellect in babies. And this research comes from none other than Oxford University, in case it needed any credibility.
Firstly, the study also found that those with larger bottoms were healthier than those with comparatively smaller butts. Indeed, it emerged that the former had lower cholesterol in addition to lower levels of glucose and had increased resistance to chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses which often stem from obesity.
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So women with larger buttocks have several health advantages but why do they give birth to children with higher IQs? Well, it seems to have something to do with the fact that women with larger glutes tend to be richer in fatty acids such as Omega-3.
And that's because breast milk, which is rich in Omega-3, actually comes from lower down in the body, and so babies of larger-bottomed women get more of the fatty acids. Since babies require Omega-3 for healthy brain development, they are at an advantage.
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The findings of this report do not arise entirely unsupported. In fact, more than a decade earlier, in 2007, a similar study found that gluteofemoral fat plays an important role in producing intelligent children
Also in 2015, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that having an extra supply of fat in your butt and thighs supports brain development in babies.
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In fact, public health epidemiologist, Will Lassex, who was the author of the study, referred to the fat from women's butt, hips and thighs as a "depot for building a baby's brain"
"You need lots of fat to make a nervous system and the fats in these areas are also enriched in DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which is a particularly important component in the human brain," he explained.
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So the theory that women with larger derrières have smarter babies is nothing new and this recent research from the University of Oxford simply lends it extra support.
It must be noted, however, that ultimately intelligence is largely down to genetics and so any efforts from expectant mothers to put on weight in order to give birth to smarter children are probably not worth the trouble.