Body Type Indicative of Health

Women with coveted hour glass figures may no longer be considered to have the healthiest shaped bodies. It seems physical strength, competitive edge, and ability to deal with stress is found in women who have fat that has migrated from their hips to their tummy area, causing them to have more of a cylindrical shape. However, both shapes do have their advantages. 

Even though we all see these hour glass figure models pictures throughout magazines and across our television screens, they could be less healthy or less able to provide for their families compared to women with more of a cylindrical shape, or weight in the belly area, as seen in many subsistence cultures. In the past, research has shown that men prefer women to have a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7, signifying that the waist is much narrower than their hips. Prior research and science has shown these women with curvy figures have more babies and are healthier. However, a new study conducted by the University of Utah Anthropologist and Professor Elizabeth Cashdan, chair of  the University’s Anthropology department, revealed women with flatter hips may have their own benefits, such as strength, assertiveness, competitiveness and the ability to cope with stress better than those with an hour glass figure. There seems to be benefits for women with both shapes. Who can say which benefits out weigh the others or which is optimal? It may depend on your lifestyle, the society in which you live or your goals in life.

Cashdan’s study involved data gathered from 33 non-Western populations and 4 European populations. Based on the data, the team found the average waist-to-hip ratio was above 0.8, indicating most women around the world have higher ratios than the once deemed optimal for fertility, health and the eyes of a man of 0.7. According to Cashdan’s study published in the journal Current Anthropology, hormones are probably the reason some women have more fat migrate to their mid sections from their hips. Androgens, a class of hormones including testosterone, increase visceral fat located around the waist, but increased Androgens levels were linked to strength, stamina and competitiveness. Another hormone, Cortisol also increases fat around the waist, but helps women deal with stress. Cashdan said the benefits from these hormones may outweigh the benefits women reap from having an hour glass figure.

Life is about trade off’s. The new study based on body types and health proves to be no different. Whether you are more fertile and more appeasing to a man’s eye with an hour glass figure or more of a cylindrical shape, with weight that migrated from your hips to your waste, each body shape seems to have benefits. So, is 0.7 still the ideal body shape? It may no longer be, but it may all depend on who you ask.