Here’s Some Good Health News For People With Big Butts

Big butts, small butts, flat, round — it’s all a matter of preference, right? Well, when it comes to health, there may be a bit more to it. People with big butts may be healthier, so go ahead and take a victory lap to the tune of “Fat Bottomed Girls,” everyone.

According to a 2010 paper by scientists from the University of Oxford, people with big butts and thighs — or, in science words, those with an “increased gluteofemoral fat mass” — had decreased cardiovascular and metabolic risk. According to the study, a bigger butt may also be associated with some protection against diabetes. Fat carried in the butt and thighs, as opposed to the waist, tends to be more stable and less likely to release the hormonal markers that have been associated with insulin resistance, which can in turn lead to diabetes. The paper says adipose tissue of the butt traps harmful fatty particles, and could potentially prevent cardiovascular disease.

While the review addressed both men and women, some benefits were more likely to happen for women, because women tend to carry fat in their hips and butt as opposed to the waist (at least until menopause). Having butt and thigh fat also favors leptin levels, which is a hormone responsible for regulating weight via long-term food intake and energy expenditure.

“Body fat distribution is a major determinant of metabolic health,” the researchers wrote in the review. Butt fat, they said, has “specific functional properties that are associated with an improved metabolic and cardiovascular risk profile. The protective properties of gluteofemoral fat have been confirmed in large population studies.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean that padding your posterior will automatically make you healthier. The benefit of butt and thigh fat is in comparison to fat that hangs out around your middle, and fat distribution is mostly decided by genetics. Stylish or not, butt-lifting TikTok leggings don’t make a difference. And because it’s about distribution rather than overall weight, you can’t really affect it by losing or gaining some pounds.

So, skip leg day if you want — or go ahead and get in those 100 squats. When it comes to health, it can’t hurt!