U.S. women losing girth control

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Chubby, plump, perhaps a little Rubenesque? Not to worry, ladies. Florida State University researchers said yesterday that "fat is the new normal" among American women.

Obesity has become more socially acceptable these days, according to their analysis of recent health and socioeconomic statistics. Coupled with feminine tastes for super-sized meals and other factors, the trend toward more gal girth has become more pronounced — and is here to stay, the researchers predict.

"This is a social force that we are trying to document because the rise in obesity has occurred rapidly over the past 30 years," said Frank Heiland, an assistant professor of economics with the school's Center for Demography and Population Health.

"Medically speaking, most agree that this trend is a dangerous one because of its connection with diabetes, cancer and other diseases," Mr. Heiland said. "But psychologically, it may provide relief to know that you are not the only one packing on the pounds."

Indeed, queen-sized ladies have had growing support over the years.

Founded in 1969, the California-based National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance promotes awareness of "weight discrimination" in the workplace and beyond. The group sponsors an annual "Fat Feminist Conference," among other things. The recent annual meeting of the Association for Size Diversity and Health — another California interest group — included a forum titled "Love and Sexuality at Every Size."

Meanwhile, sales of plus-size women's fashions topped $48 billion last year and are expected to hit $65 billion by 2012, according to New York-based Market Research.

Mr. Heiland, meanwhile, considers feminine obesity a "social dynamic" driven by lower food prices, larger portions, shifting beauty and medical ideals, and perceptions among the women themselves in particular.

With Mary Burke, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Mr. Heiland pored over data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The pair found that the average weight of women between 30 and 60 years old had increased by 20 pounds, or 14 percent, since 1976. Among very obese women (those in the 300-pound range), the increase was 18 percent.

Currently, more than a third of women over 20 are obese. But self-image is changing, too. In 1994, the average women weighed 147 but wished she weighed 132. By 2002, the researchers found, she tipped the scales at 153 but longed to be 135.

"The fact that even the desired weight of women has increased suggests there is less social pressure to lose weight," the study said. It was published in Economic Inquiry, an academic journal.

Women have another challenge when it comes to keeping their weight in check.

A combined study from Harvard Medical School and the University of California at San Diego released July 23 found that obesity spreads through cozy social networks — particularly if they are female. If a man's brother gets heavy, the study found, his chances of doing the same increase by 44 percent. Among sisters, however, the risk was 67 percent.