Long and short of it

Psychologists at the University of Wroclaw in Poland have discovered that people of both sexes are attracted to members of the opposite sex who have long legs. And this is supposed to be news?

About 218 men and women were asked to rank, in order of attractiveness, seven men and seven women from digitally altered images.

All the people to be judged were of the same height but their pictures were altered to give them legs that were five per cent, 10 per cent and 15 per cent longer and results showed that regardless of the volunteer's own height and leg length, the subjects with a leg length of five per cent more than the average came out as the clear winners while the second most attractive were those with either average leg length or those whose legs were 10 per cent longer than normal.

The psychologists believe that this is due to the fact that longer legs are a sign of good health - the result of good nutrition while growing up.

When there are so many diseases and mental illnesses out there that we still have no cure for, why on earth are people wasting time on research and surveys that state the obvious?

It's no secret that men are attracted to long legs and that most women like their men to be taller than them.

Put a tall, leggy blonde in front of any man and measure the drool as if it were rainfall.

This isn't brain surgery.

And let's face it, how many women do any of us know who would describe their ideal man as having short, stubby legs?

And while good nutrition in adolescence may play a roll in longer legs as an adult, it seems much more likely that the parent's genes have something to do with it

And either way, who has ever picked their mate based on the fact they looked well-nourished as a child?