How Body Shape Affects Intelligence

“Being fat may diminish mental performance, studies find—a problem that worsens with age. But among elderly women, where fat is deposited may matter,” reports Science News. “Genetics dictates where people preferentially accumulate body fat. For most it’s around the belly. Among the obese, these apple-shaped individuals tend to run a bigger risk of developing heart disease than do pears — people who deposit most of their excess fat at the hips and thighs. For a host of reasons, physicians had expected that if body shape affected mental performance, apples would again prove the bigger losers. In fact, the opposite appears true…”