Young African American men and women report finding average weight women with a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) of 0.7 and 0.8 as most attractive, according to a study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders in 2004.
These results are congruent with other research on body weight and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) that had predominately Caucasian participants.
The authors of the study recruited 54 African American men and 33 African American women from a local undergraduate college. The participants ranked 12 different line drawings of women, which each had a different combination of waist-to-hip ratios and body weights, on a number of different traits, including attractiveness, sexiness, companionship, or desirability for a long-term relationship.
The authors found that the drawings of women with a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 and average body weight were considered most attractive by both male and female participants. The next most attractive figure had a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 and above average body weight, followed by the underweight figure with a WHR of 0.8.
“The present findings suggest that when judging female figures, which differ in body size as well as shape, black and white subjects generally use similar standards to judge attractiveness of female figures.”
Reference:
Devendra Singh. (1994). Body Fat Distribution and Perception of Desirable Female Body Shape by Young Black Men and Women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, Vol 16, No 3: 289-294.