The bigger your hips, the healthier your heart (Danish study)

... measured height, weight and body mass index - calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres.

They then looked at Danish health registers up until the end of 1998 to look at how many of the men and women had cardiovascular problems, and up to 2001 to see how many had died.

Compared to the group of women with the smallest hip circumferences, women with the biggest were found to have an 87% reduction in deaths.

They also had an 86% reduced risk of having coronary heart disease and a 46% reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to the researchers.

For many people, mainly women, fat on legs, hips, and buttocks may actually help ward off heart disease and diabetes, recent research suggests.

University of Colorado researchers reported this week that in a study of 95 women past menopause, being bottom-heavy was linked to better scores on several ominous markers in the blood, including triglycerides and high sugar levels. When women were also heavy above the waist, most advantages of the leg fat vanished, but thick thighs still improved their scores on triglycerides, potentially harmful fats in the blood.

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Researchers are not sure exactly why leg fat carries benefits, but this latest study complements the growing understanding that all fat is not alike. In recent years it has become clearer that ''visceral fat," which wraps around organs and swells waistlines, poses the greatest health danger, while ''peripheral fat" on arms and legs is more benign and, according to recent research, may even be helpful.

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And in another human study, Hamdy said, the women who had the best scores on indicators of future heart health were those with the least central-body fat and the highest percentage of peripheral fat. They even did better than those who were lean all over.