How do you shape up?

Reyman

Just reading in the paper the other day the shape of women has changed quite a lot;

Quote:
"According to a national Sizing Survey in the UK two years ago, women's figures have changed considerably since the '50s when the average woman had a 27in waist, 37in bust and 39in hips. Now her measurements are widened to a 34in waist, 38in bust and 40.5in hips"

Anyone think this is true? How could women go from 27" waist to 34" waist in two generations? Incredible!

Attol

There's been a total change in lifestyle and diet. Two generations ago people would have been eating a lot more fresh veg and unprocessed foods. They wouldn't have been drinking high sugar drinks and snacking on high fat sugary snacks all the time. People also used to move a lot more. Women would clean the house, take care of the kids etc. Their roles in society have changed a lot and now people in general live a more sedentary lifestyle. It's not as if men are still the same size either. Also the 50s were very male dominated so women would have spent more time fussing after the husband than making sure she wasn't hungry. Can you imagine a 50s housewife sitting on the couch eating ice cream in the evenings when her husband came home.

I can't think of anyone who cooks from scratch using only fresh ingredients. People use jars of sauce (often high in sugar) and other convenience foods when cooking dinner and to be honest I can only think of one family that I know of that still has a homecooked dinner almost every night. For my family it's basically whatever we feel like and we make it ourselves which results in things like microwave pizzas, chips etc. because we're too tired after a long day at work/school/college to steam vegetables and make anything healthy sometimes and what a quick fix. Another reason would be unhealthy lunches. It's getting ridiculously hard to find a healthy option for lunch when out anymore. Where I go to college we have a Starbucks, Subway, McDonald's, Greggs(bakery that does pasties and stuff like that), a few cafes, M&S and Boots. Out of all of those I can only really get healthy food from Boots which can be a bit of a pain as it costs £3 for a salad/sandwich, drink and snack and I don't always have enough. There's nothing I can get when I have £1 left other than a coffee or chicken nuggets in McDonald's. It's really not difficult to see the changes that have happened and how fast food is the cheapest, easiest option. It would have been a rare treat when it first came about.

That was the post war era in the UK. Rationing was still in place and people were poor and homeless. Getting sugar and other treats was very rare. I would have been shocked if anyone other than the very rich could afford to get fat.

It makes perfect sense that people have gotten bigger with food readily available these days. We should be thankful that we don't have to go without all the time because we live in a time where in our part of the world we can get whatever we want, whenever we want it.

dudara

I can't think of anyone who cooks from scratch using only fresh ingredients.

Actually I do, the whole time, and I'm not alone in that.

But figures have changed, that's for certain. I love 50's style dresses and buy them vintage. But you have to be so careful with measurements. A 12 back then is not a 12 today

Attol

I'm not saying nobody does it I'm just saying I personally don't know people who do and it's getting increasingly rare that people get the chance to.

base2

Those figures are probably mean values, where a median value might be more telling. I'd say that its just a lot of average women, and then the overweights just upping the mean waistline.

Seraphina

its the fat people giving all those who take care of ourselves a bad name!
i reckon base2 has got it in more scientific terms tho

Sangre

I seriously doubt the average is a 34"waist for a woman.

Faith

It would be if you take into account all the women who weight 300+ lbs !

ferdi

Sangre wrote:

I seriously doubt the average is a 34"waist for a woman.

indeed, that bigger than me.

Reyman

I suspect the story is even worse for guys. Probably arund waist 36" judging by the waist size of trousers in the shops.

I reckon 1" on the waist is approximately 5lbs extra weight . So an extra 7" (27 - 34") on the waist means a weight increase of 35 lbs - 2.5 stone increase in 50 years.

Rb

LadyLotts wrote:

There's been a total change in lifestyle and diet. Two generations ago people would have been eating a lot more fresh veg and unprocessed foods. They wouldn't have been drinking high sugar drinks and snacking on high fat sugary snacks all the time. People also used to move a lot more. Women would clean the house, take care of the kids etc. Their roles in society have changed a lot and now people in general live a more sedentary lifestyle. It's not as if men are still the same size either. Also the 50s were very male dominated so women would have spent more time fussing after the husband than making sure she wasn't hungry. Can you imagine a 50s housewife sitting on the couch eating ice cream in the evenings when her husband came home.

I can't think of anyone who cooks from scratch using only fresh ingredients. People use jars of sauce (often high in sugar) and other convenience foods when cooking dinner and to be honest I can only think of one family that I know of that still has a homecooked dinner almost every night. For my family it's basically whatever we feel like and we make it ourselves which results in things like microwave pizzas, chips etc. because we're too tired after a long day at work/school/college to steam vegetables and make anything healthy sometimes and what a quick fix. Another reason would be unhealthy lunches. It's getting ridiculously hard to find a healthy option for lunch when out anymore. Where I go to college we have a Starbucks, Subway, McDonald's, Greggs(bakery that does pasties and stuff like that), a few cafes, M&S and Boots. Out of all of those I can only really get healthy food from Boots which can be a bit of a pain as it costs £3 for a salad/sandwich, drink and snack and I don't always have enough. There's nothing I can get when I have £1 left other than a coffee or chicken nuggets in McDonald's. It's really not difficult to see the changes that have happened and how fast food is the cheapest, easiest option. It would have been a rare treat when it first came about.

That was the post war era in the UK. Rationing was still in place and people were poor and homeless. Getting sugar and other treats was very rare. I would have been shocked if anyone other than the very rich could afford to get fat.

It makes perfect sense that people have gotten bigger with food readily available these days. We should be thankful that we don't have to go without all the time because we live in a time where in our part of the world we can get whatever we want, whenever we want it.

Well put, I'd completely agree.

Oh and OP & Sangre, the average size for women is size 16 which is a 34" waist believe it or not.

Julesie

Hmm.. those figures do sound a little strange. Even if we took the arguement that it is the overweight section which is pushing up the waist figure, surely then it should have a similar effect on the other measurements, especially since the majority of women actually store fat around the hips/thighs/ass area rather than the waist.


Jules

Aurther Hugh

rb_ie wrote:

Well put, I'd completely agree.

Oh and OP & Sangre, the average size for women is size 16 which is a 34" waist believe it or not.

I find that so hard to believe....perhaps that's a UK stat 'cos I'm not sure I even have any girly friends or family members that are as big as that, as apposed to it being the norm....not saying the 16 is abnormally huge I just can't imagine that it'd be the mathematical average.

Edit; just read over the OP (UK survery); women in the UK must be just bigger than their Irish counterparts.

Sangre

Bottom line is I've a 31" waist (and thats after coming back from America). My everyday experience of women is NOT them having a waist 3" wider than me

Attol

I live the UK. A LOT of people tend to be really big, especially in the poorer areas. Probably just down to junk food being cheap and quick to prepare. Also the parents of the current middle aged generation may have tried to ensure their kids didn't have to go through what they did with rationing and overfed them. It's strange though as it is really bad in the poorer areas. You do see it in the middle classed areas too, but not as prominently. The younger people aren't that bad just it seems to affect a lot of those over 30 over here.

Civilian_Target

Women are also now taller than they used to be - maybe the reason you have bigger waists and breasts than you used to is simply because on average you're 4/5 inches taller.

And that 34" waist average is surprising - I would have always thought it was a lot thinner.

rsta

i find that really hard to belive that size 16 is the norm here. no way, i only know a couple of girls that size, size 10-12 is the average size here.

sure dont you know when you are out shopping and going through the racks of a lovely top/trousers/skirt etc and your size is gone but all thats left on the racks is size 14 to 16's

so hello if size 16 is the most popular size, why are all the size 8s to 12s gone first....?

Attol

Because different types of shops tend to cater more for certain sized clientelle. If you were a size 16 you wouldn't be stocking up on boob tubes and mini skirts as often as if you were a size 10.

Rb

LadyLotts wrote:

If you were a size 16 you wouldn't be stocking up on boob tubes and mini skirts as often as if you were a size 10.

At least thats what we hope.

rsta

LadyLotts wrote:

Because different types of shops tend to cater more for certain sized clientelle. If you were a size 16 you wouldn't be stocking up on boob tubes and mini skirts as often as if you were a size 10.

ah yeah i know that!

im talking normal clothes like trousers or a normal top like

She-Ra

rsta wrote:

i find that really hard to belive that size 16 is the norm here. no way, i only know a couple of girls that size, size 10-12 is the average size here.

sure dont you know when you are out shopping and going through the racks of a lovely top/trousers/skirt etc and your size is gone but all thats left on the racks is size 14 to 16's

so hello if size 16 is the most popular size, why are all the size 8s to 12s gone first....?

i disagree, i've worked in clothes shops and was constantly asked why there was only size 8's left
Because different types of shops tend to cater more for certain sized clientelle. If you were a size 16 you wouldn't be stocking up on boob tubes and mini skirts as often as if you were a size 10.[/QUOTE]
I've seen more and more bigger girls wearing more revealing clothes out recently... it wouldnt be for me now but more power to them

Seraphina

Sangre wrote:

Bottom line is I've a 31" waist (and thats after coming back from America). My everyday experience of women is NOT them having a waist 3" wider than me

yeah but you're in ucd right? your everyday experience of women is of young women, most of whom are prob involved in sport or at least take care of themselves.

this is the average for women in general. that includes all those middle-aged spreaders, and the very obese women who might average out three perfectly normal sized girls to a 16.

as base2 said, its a mean value, and doesn't really give a proper idea of the average woman's size. do ya not remember your leavin cert maths?