Looking at the latest fashions and models on the catwalks, a woman could be forgiven for thinking that to be seriously slender was the be-all-and-end-all.

But according to two psychologists, being skinny has nothing to do with being attractive. In fact, some of the female icons of sex appeal throughout the ages (from the Venus de Milo through to Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Scarlett Johansson) have been neither bony nor slender.

Sexiness is all about the waist-to-hip ratio, say Viren Swami and Adrian Furnham in their new book The Psychology Of Physical Attraction, reports the Daily Mail.

The smaller it is, the stronger the indicator of fertility and health. And this has nothing to do with weight.

"Young women can be chubby, but still have a low WHR.

"As women get older, their waists thicken and their fertility goes down in proportion to their age - that explains why a slim waist, a signal of fertility, is attractive."

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