Voluptuous Women are Smarter?

That's the word according to the New York Post. It cites a new study as evidence, saying "women with hourglass figures tend to be more intelligent and have smarter kids."

Who da' thunk?

More specifically researchers say, there is a correlation between IQ and a woman's waist-to-hip-ratio.

The study found that women who had a larger difference between their waist and hip measurements scored higher in tests than did those with "apple-shaped" bodies.

"Women with lower WHRs and their children have significantly higher cognitive test scores," their study found.

There is an online calculator available courtesy of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, which "looks at the proportion of body fat stored on your waist compared to that stored at your hips and buttocks."

It is calculated by dividing the waist circumference by the hip circumference.

Oh goody!

In case you're wondering, the lower the WHR, the better, according to the study by William Lassek of the University of Pittsburgh and Steven Gaulin of the University of California at Santa Barbara.

They say that's because the fat on a woman's hips and thighs contains omega-3 fatty acids, which help in "critical brain-building" - and the curvier the hips, the higher the level.

The fat around the waist has higher qualities of omega-6 fatty acids, less helpful to brain growth.

"Shapely hips and thighs hold essential nutrients that nurse brains and could produce smart kids, too," Gaulin told London's Telegraph.

Fret not. Just because you're "apple shaped" or fat, doesn't necessarily mean you're a dum-dum.

The researchers tested their thesis by looking at data from a study of only 16,325 women aged from birth to 90. The results will appear in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

Don't believe us? Read this New York Post article.

As stated by the Underwire, Dita Von Teese must be a genius!