What Kind Of Body Shape Do Men Find Attractive?

Posting Date: 04/27/1999

E-mail question: What was the study you mentioned about the shape of women's bodies and their attractiveness to men?

Dr. Dean: We used to think that if a woman had a nice hourglass shape, she would be sexually attractive to men.

A study was done with college men, and the researchers found out this wasn?t true. They looked at waist-to-hip ratios and found that this did not often predict women's attractiveness. The number that did matter was body mass index or BMI, which is essentially your weight factored with your height. BMI was the most important indicator of what young men find attractive.

Now, how does this translate into real bodies? Well, it's good news for most women. Skinny models have low BMIs which were not found to be that attractive. And women who would usually be described as modestly plump, based on their BMI, were found to be attractive.

Other studies, notably a very large study of nurses, found that your body shape and waist-to-hip ratio is absolutely critical to your cardiovascular health, no matter how much you weigh. Women were divided up into being either apple-shaped or pear-shaped, and those who are apple-shaped have higher health risks. This factor, incidentally, is mainly genetic.

We have a calculator on www.healthcentral.com where you can figure out your body mass index - or BMI - and see how it was rated for attractiveness by the young men in the study. You may be pleasantly surprised. Plenty of men prefer women with BMIs of 24, 25, 26 and 27.

You can also calculate your body shape and your waist-to-hip ratio and get feedback on them, too, on www.healthcentral.com

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