( CNN ) -- As I write this from the breakfast bar in my house , I just now finished eating a Lean Pocket for lunch . And it was awesome . Those delicious , microwavable little bastards complete me . But , despite the fact that this particular food-like product does , in fact , emphasize the word `` lean , '' I did n't actually eat it because I 'm concerned about my weight . I ate it because I have embarrassingly low standards . Tonight 's dinner : Something edible . Fortunately , I live alone and , unless my dog 's palate suddenly shifts from Beggin ' Strips as the gold standard for fine cuisine , there 's really nobody here to judge me . Nevertheless , Lean Pockets do claim , at least by name alone , to be somewhat easy on the waistline . Which is a good thing , because , according to a new trending study , heterosexual women may be more attracted to men who are thin . Not surprisingly , 9 out of 10 belts agree . Though , to be fair , that 10th belt is really kinky and likes being dominated . `` Yes ! Yes ! Stretch me to the limit ! Oh , it hurts so good ! Now burn me with your cigarette ! '' `` Whoa , belt . That just got weird . '' The study , first published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and later reported in LiveScience , quickly became a popular read throughout the Internet after it sort of debunked the idea that most women are instinctively drawn to guys who posses `` evolved '' macho features . Or what you might call PBM : Protective Boyfriend Material . This , of course , does n't necessarily mean that ladies are n't attracted to masculinity , but the recent findings by Vinet Coetzee of the University of Pretoria in South Africa simply suggest women might subconsciously focus first on a man 's weight -- or lack thereof -- before rejecting him for other reasons . Unfortunately , the finer details of the study get fairly complicated beyond that . But somehow it all oddly boils down to the strength of a man 's immune system . Apparently , somewhere in a woman 's brain -- most likely in a weird , strategic spot that blocks her ability to care deeply about the importance of a baseball player 's on-base percentage -- there 's a little chunk of gray goo that instantly determines whether or not a man 's genes are worthy enough to pass on to future generations . For example , the average heterosexual woman 's brain will make the following immediate determinations : . Channing Tatum : Mate . Now . Seth Rogen : Proceed with caution . Carrot Top : Run like hell . And immunity , the study says , has long been considered a major factor in these immediate genetic determinations . So , tying this back to the importance of being thin , Coetzee explains , `` We found that a man 's weight serves as a better indicator of the relationship between immune response and attractiveness than masculinity does . It is therefore more likely that Latvian women use weight , rather than masculinity , in their subconscious judgments of a man 's immunity . '' The interesting word there is `` Latvian . '' I do n't really know if it matters or not that the female lusting tendencies of a small Baltic country of just over 2 million people have the honor of speaking for women all over the planet , but , alas , that 's who they used for the study . And I approve . They seem nice . Besides , where else should they have done their research ? Florida ? `` According to our results , all women instantly swoon for a man in jorts . '' Unless it 's Carrot Top .
`` Apparently This Matters '' is CNN 's new series about the people and issues that matter most to New York -- from 9/11 to the war in Iraq. This week , Jarrett ponders a popular study saying women prefer skinny men . Or , at least women in Latvia -- that 's where the study was conducted . Science says it boils down to immune systems -- not jeans shorts .