Do All Women Want to Be Thinner?

by WiredBerries Editors — November 26, 2007

Most normal-weight women yearn to be thinner, found a recent Cornell study. In fact, nearly 90 percent of the subjects who were already a healthy weight wished they weighed less. The researchers also found that even half of significantly underweight women wanted to continue to lose weight, or at least not gain any. "The majority of underweight females, closer in body size to the thin cultural ideal, consider their body weight 'about right,'" said Jeffery Sobal, Cornell professor of nutritional sociology, even though experts have deemed these body weights unhealthful.

The Cornell study also suggested that men and women are both similar and different in several key ways when it comes to body satisfaction. They found, for example, that men and women are similarly dissatisfied with their weight by an average of about 8 pounds. However, women are much more dissatisfied with their bodies overall and want to lose the 8 lbs, whereas men tend to have more mixed desires--some want to lose an average of 8 lbs of weight while others want to gain an average of 8 lbs. However, the study found that most obese individuals don't want to be thin enough to achieve a healthy weight. In other words, even if they met their weight-loss goals, they'd still be significantly overweight.

What this all means, Lori Neighbors, Ph.D. says is that "while both men and women express some degree of body dissatisfaction, a surprising proportion of people with less healthy body weights--underweight females and overweight individuals of both genders--do not idealize a body weight that would move them to a more healthy state," said Neighbors.

But any way you look at it, these results suggest that only about 1 in 10 individuals are both a healthy weight and happy with it! So if you're among that 10%, please share your secret with the rest of us!