Does my bum look big in this?!

‘Does my bum look big in this?’ It’s the dreaded question every girl has posed at one point in her life (or if you’re like me- more than once!)

Boyfriends feel obliged to say no but when they do, we accuse them of lying and if they dare say yes… well they’re a brave man to decide to go in that direction! Similarly, it’s one of those awkward questions you can never answer honestly, even to your best girlfriend who you’d normally never lie too.

But it’s a question people shouldn’t be afraid to ask or answer from now on because it’s official -a big bum is good for you. In-fact, a big bum, big hips and solid thighs are good for you.

With annual ‘Rear of the Year’ awards held since 1981 and padded pants designed to boost our derrieres it appears we’re a nation fixated on bums and curves in all the right places. Gorgeous ladies like Beyonce (who apparently wrote ‘Bootylicious’ as a celebration of her curves) and Jennifer Lopez have long been praised for their big behinds. Proudly parading them they’ve never allowed themselves to succumb to pressure to be stick-thin. These ladies are living proof that big bums are beautiful, curves are sexy and we were all made to look womanly.

Not only can curves look sexy but researchers at Oxford University recently discovered that carrying fat on our hips, thighs and bums rather than round our waists has a number of health benefits including protecting us against diabetes and heart disease.

Their findings published for the International Journal of Obesity reveal that having a big bum, hips and thighs is much better for us than fat around our waist. Waist fat releases molecules known as cytokines (raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease) and harmful fatty acids into our bodies according to the research. However, it was discovered thigh fat traps these harmful fatty acids, stopping them from latching on to our liver and muscles, minimising the risk of a range of health problems. Thigh fat also releases hormones that protects our arteries and helps blood sugar control.

One of the researchers, Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos said, “the idea that body fat distribution is important to health has been known for some time but it’s only recently thigh fat and a larger hip circumference have been shown to promote health.”  His statement is good news as thigh and bum fat can be notoriously hard to shift (I’m sure some of you feel my pain -  no matter how much time I spend working out, my love-handles never seem to shrink!)

Manolopoulos added, “It’s shape that matters – and as far as health is concerned, being ‘pear-shaped’ is preferable to being ‘apple-shaped.’ In an ideal world, the more fat around the thighs the better – as long as the tummy stays slim.”

As if we needed further excuses not to super-shrink our figures, curves and bums tend to prove popular in attracting men. In “Baby Got Back” Sir Mix-A-Lot sang ‘I like big butts and I cannot lie, you other brothers can’t deny’ and it seems a lot of his ‘brothers’ agree whole-heartedly with his lyrics. Like one guy I know pointed out, “how can a girl shake it when she has nothing to shake? A big bum and curves are hot- no matter what girls might think.”

So, next time you ask your friends or boyfriend, ‘does my bum look big in this?’ the only answer you should be aiming for is a resounding YES! Now go forth and shake your booty with pride, knowing that life’s much healthier and more cushty with a big bum!

Laura Mitchell

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