Average size of women-a statistic that does more harm than good.

adouglasmhor

SmallL wrote: »

Its currently about dress size 16 (correct me if im wrong, a quick google search found this)
To me statistics like this may make people think its 'okay' to be size 16 or slightly above as its near 'normal' for the population.
'average' =/= healthy

Its worrying because people look at the statistic and think 'Oh im average, i suppose its fine to carry on'
Which leads to
'oh i suppose im only slightly bigger than average, i dont really need to do anything'

gradually that 'average' gets bigger and bigger!

More and more shops cater for the bigger sizes, iv noticed a trend in womens clothes especially at supermarket stores to be 'oversized' and in a 'non-fitted' or 'floaty' style.
Its harder and harder to fine clothes that show off a defined waist.
Its not that small sizes are hard to find, the styles of clothes seem to be changing.

(sorry if the topic doesnt really belong to this board i kinda pulled the idea from the 'sex is it important' topic)

Why would you fine clothes? Have the fashion police been given new powers?

twigglet35

I was a size 10 last year but to keep that size i can only eat 500cal a day.
im now a 14/16 more the 16 and i dont eat junk we cook everything from scrach and drink lots of water.
some pepole are just not ment to be small.

SmallL

Dress size was used as theres not much else in the way of indicating body size.
Im not saying everyone should be a 10, but the 'average' person is not 'healthy' at a dress size of 16.
There coems a point where the 'average' dress size isn't healthy for the 'average' person as i said previously.
Its more the tend than individual cases thats worrying.

adouglasmhor

skintchick wrote: »

Shorten them! Or pay someone to do it for you. It's a very easy job, wouldn't cost much. I'm currently looking for a dress for a do that comes below the knee and am going to probably buy a maxi and have it shortened to get the length I want. too long is easy to resolve.

Shorten a far too long dress and you end up wiith the waist hanging over your behookey.

Ames

SmallL wrote: »

You can love food and eating without putting weight on that harms your health ;P
I manage this by cooking everything from scratch, if i want a curry il make my own usually using low fat alternatives to cream/oil.
I treat myself to a 'real takeaway' about every 3 weeks.
I dont really like crisps and any other snacky things we simply don't buy as you can't be tempted by what you dont have :P
Though i do bake cakes occasionally.
For lunch/breakfast i have those ainsley harriot cous cous packets or poached egg on seeded bread.

I don't think that's true. I can have chocolate in the house for months and not be bothered about it. But if I don't have any treats in, I get fixated and the temptation/urge gets so bad that I go out and buy loads and scoff it all.

Right now I've got well over half a big box of Green and Blacks miniatures left I got in November. I can have one anytime I want, and although I sometimes buy the odd chocolate bar, I'm not going out and buying a multipack (or three) and binging like I used to do.

I've started cutting back on what I eat over the last few days, and going by my clothes I've lost some weight (haven't had chance to get on any scales yet), or at least I'm not so bloated, and I'm definitely feeling healthier. I'm allowing myself a packet of crisps a day. Because I don't feel I'm depriving myself I don't really miss treats.

I think it's a forbidden fruit thing.

FatVonD

littlerat wrote: »

Not long ago (a couple of months) I was at grandma's and found some of her old size 10 skirts - 26" waist. These are from when my grandma was in her teens-early/mid 20s so will be.... 50-60 years old. Don't ask why she's kept them!

Just looking, ASOS list size 10 as 26 3/4", littlewoods as 28", and a link not to a shop but to a clothing sizes chart, as 26"....

So what, 50 years ago was 1962, so they're probably mid-late 50s. So when did all the sizings change? The max I can find of 2" bigger waist for a size 10 seems kind of... insignificant, to be honest.

When I was in my early teens in 1970s the sizings in Martin Ford (now there's a blast from the past!) for a size 10 were a 22" waist, size 12 was 24" etc etc.

166million

Callie22 wrote: »

As I inferred in my post. But it should not be assumed that just because someone is slim they are healthy. I sit next to a very slim person at work - who shovels down crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks and god knows what else like it's going out of fashion. I'm not as skinny as she is, but then again I don't get breathless walking up the stairs in the office, and she does ... Someone's size doesn't say anything about a person other than what size they are.

And I still find it really, really sad that someone posted on here that people should 'aspire' to be skinny. It's no wonder so many kids (young girls especially) are so messed up when we're telling them that's what they should 'aspire' to - a certain body shape and nothing else. Especially 'size zero' - I find it incredible that we're telling young girls that they should aspire to be nothing at all.

Do you work with me? :rotfl:

Saturnalia

Dress size says very little really. Take me at the moment. I'm a size 10/12 and you would probably say if you saw me with clothes on that I'm neither fat nor thin. But I'm fat. I'm about 10lb heavier than my normal weight and I probably don't look much different, but I'm aware that bits of me wobble that don't usually & I get tired and sweaty more easily when active. It's about how I feel rather than how I look. I'm still within the healthy weight range for my height but the way I see it, this isn't MY healthy weight.

ragecake

Im pretty heavy for my size etc, however, Im a size 10 down below, and a 14 uptop...

I exercise every day and I don't even remember the last time I ate something I didn't make from scratch..

Besides, dress size in one place, is different to another.
Top shops size 10 and say....Dorothy Perkins size 10, are two different things.

sometimes, even the same SHOP can have different sizes, I bought 3 pairs of jeans from Punkyfish, all size large as I know they run small, they were all completely different sizes, inches in difference....

166million

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

With regards to size, I don't think there has been any actual research into at which point (and age), size makes a difference to health. The BMI was used by the American Insurance industry and as far as I'm aware is just an arbitary figure. It wasn't based on research.

While I can see that there comes a point where someone is so obese that they look like walking is difficult, at size 20 and even 22 I did not feel like that. I could still run for the bus! And my weight did not stop me from doing anything that I wanted. I even did a huge zip wire over a lake.

But I don't want to spend my life the way my nana did. She battled with her weight her whole life. She was 4'10" tall and weighed 8 and a half stones, so she wasn't really huge. However, she thought she should weigh 7 stones, so spent her life on a diet.

She was 85 when she died. She was fit and healthy, until one day she had a massive stroke and that was that. When we cleared out her stuff, we found wardrobes full of gorgeous clothes which had never been worn. She used to wear the same baggy clothes day in and day out. All these beautiful clothes were a size too small. I can only think that she hoped to wear them when she finally lost weight. How sad is that?

My aunt on the other hand, didn't battle her weight. She said she was who she was. She was also 85 when she died. She had 2 years of slight ill health as she had a heart attack at 83. She still went on a cruise to see the millenium in at the island where the sun rises first. She was a good size 20 to 22 her whole life.

So looking at these people, I find it hard to believe that I need to be like my nana. At least my aunt lived a full life and didn't wait for the day that she would finally be thin.

I feel like this sometimes