The role of body fat in female attractiveness

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of body fat percentage (BF%) on female attractiveness. To this end, a series of female body images were selected from a collection of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans. Images were stratified by three levels (low, mid, and high) of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and seven levels (15%–50%) of BF%. These 21 images were presented in a random order and rated for attractiveness. Results indicate that WHR, BMI, and BF% are all significant predictors of female attractiveness when regressed separately (R²= 0.19, 0.70, and 0.76, respectively). When regressed simultaneously, all three variables accounted for 87% of the variance in image attractiveness, with only BF% and WHR being significant predictors. Further analysis revealed that body fat might disrupt the negative linear relationship between WHR and attractiveness. Men and women differed significantly in most categories of WHR and BF%, with men generally rating images as less attractive than women. These data indicate that BF% appears to be a strong cue for attractiveness and that the impact of WHR and BMI on attractiveness is dependent, in part, on BF%. The appearance of body fat may provide disruption in the visual cues of both shape and size of the female body, potentially impacting behavior.     

Human body odour, symmetry and attractiveness.

Several studies have found body and facial symmetry as well as attractiveness to be human mate choice criteria. These characteristics are presumed to signal developmental stability. Human body odour has been shown to influence female mate choice depending on the immune system, but the question of whether smell could signal general mate quality, as do other cues, was not addressed in previous studies. We compared ratings of body odour, attractiveness, and measurements of facial and body asymmetry of 16 male and 19 female subjects. Subjects wore a T-shirt for three consecutive nights under controlled conditions. Opposite-sex raters judged the odour of the T-shirts and another group evaluated portraits of the subjects for attractiveness. We measured seven bilateral traits of the subject's body to assess body asymmetry. Facial asymmetry was examined by distance measurements of portrait photographs. The results showed a significant positive correlation between facial attractiveness and sexiness of body odour for female subjects. We found positive relationships between body odour and attractiveness and negative ones between smell and body asymmetry for males only if female odour raters were in the most fertile phase of their menstrual cycle. The outcomes are discussed in the light of different male and female reproductive strategies.     

Patterns of eye movements when male and female observers judge female attractiveness, body fat and waist-to-hip ratio

Behavioural studies of the perceptual cues for female physical attractiveness have suggested two potentially important features: body fat distribution [the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)] and overall body fat [often estimated by the body mass index (BMI)]. However, none of these studies tell us directly which regions of the stimulus images inform observers' judgments. Therefore, we recorded the eye movements of three groups of 10 male observers and three groups of 10 female observers, when they rated a set of 46 photographs of female bodies. The first sets of observers rated the images for attractiveness, the second sets rated for body fat and the third sets for WHR. If either WHR and/or body fat is used to judge attractiveness, then observers rating attractiveness should look at those areas of the body which allow assessment of these features, and they should look in the same areas when they are directly asked to estimate WHR and body fat. So we are able to compare the fixation patterns for the explicit judgments with those for attractiveness judgments and infer which features were used for attractiveness. Prior to group analysis of the eye-movement data, the locations of individual eye fixations were transformed into a common reference space to permit comparisons of fixation density at high resolution across all stimuli. This manipulation allowed us to use spatial statistical analysis techniques to show the following: (1) Observers' fixations for attractiveness and body fat clustered in the central and upper abdomen and chest, but not the pelvic or hip areas, consistent with the finding that WHR had little influence over attractiveness judgments. (2) The pattern of fixations for attractiveness ratings was very similar to the fixation patterns for body fat judgments. (3) The fixations for WHR ratings were significantly different from those for attractiveness and body fat.     

Visual perception of female physical attractiveness

On the basis of visual assessment of figure drawings and front/profile images, past researchers believed that the waist-hip ratio (WHR) and the body mass index (BMI) were two putative cues to female physical attractiveness. However, this view was not tested on three-dimensional (3D) female images. In the present study, 3D images of 31 Caucasian females having varying body weights (BMI ranged from 16 to 35) were shown to 29 male and 25 female viewers, who were asked to rate the physical attractiveness. The results showed that the body volume divided by the square of the height, defined as volume height index (VHI), is the most important and direct visual determinant of female physical attractiveness. In determining the female attractiveness, human observers may first use VHI as a visual cue, which is also a key indicator of health and fertility owing to its strong linear relation to BMI. To fine-tune the judgement, observers may then use body proportions, the most important of which are the ratio of waist height over the chin height (WHC) (a measure of the length of legs over total tallness) and the deviation of WHR from the ideal ratio. It also appears that the effect of the body's physical parameters on the perception of female physical attractiveness conforms to Stevens' power law of psychophysics.     

Visual cues to female physical attractiveness

Evolutionary psychology suggests that a woman's sexual attractiveness is based on cues of health and reproductive potential. In recent years, research has focused on the ratio of the width of the waist to the width of the hips (the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). A low WHR (i.e. a curvaceous body) is believed to correspond to the optimal fat distribution for high fertility, and so this shape should be highly attractive. In this paper we present evidence that weight scaled for height (the body mass index (BMI)) is the primary determinant of sexual attractiveness rather than WHR. BMI is also strongly linked to health and reproductive potential. Furthermore, we show how covariation of apparent BMI and WHR in previous studies led to the overestimation of the importance of WHR in the perception of female attractiveness. Finally, we show how visual cues, such as the perimeter-area ratio (PAR), can provide an accurate and reliable index of an individual's BMI and could be used by an observer to differentiate between potential partners.     

Visual perception of male body attractiveness

Based on 69 scanned Chinese male subjects and 25 Caucasian male subjects, the present study showed that the volume height index (VHI) is the most important visual cue to male body attractiveness of young Chinese viewers among the many body parameters examined in the study. VHI alone can explain ca. 73% of the variance of male body attractiveness ratings. The effect of VHI can be fitted with two half bell-shaped exponential curves with an optimal VHI at 17.6 l m(-2) and 18.0 l m(-2) for female raters and male raters, respectively. In addition to VHI, other body parameters or ratios can have small, but significant effects on male body attractiveness. Body proportions associated with fitness will enhance male body attractiveness. It was also found that there is an optimal waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) at 0.8 and deviations from this optimal WHR reduce male body attractiveness.     

Human body fluid proteome analysis

The focus of this article is to review the recent advances in proteome analysis of human body fluids, including plasma/serum, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, saliva, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, synovial fluid, nipple aspirate fluid, tear fluid, and amniotic fluid, as well as its applications to human disease biomarker discovery. We aim to summarize the proteomics technologies currently used for global identification and quantification of body fluid proteins, and elaborate the putative biomarkers discovered for a variety of human diseases through human body fluid proteome (HBFP) analysis. Some critical concerns and perspectives in this emerging field are also discussed. With the advances made in proteomics technologies, the impact of HBFP analysis in the search for clinically relevant disease biomarkers would be realized in the future.     

Selective attractiveness of rodent-baited traps for female blowflies

Five species of Calliphoridae, mostly females, were collected using fly-traps baited with freshly killed rodent carcasses. Female blowflies were examined to determine the stages of ovarian development. The traps were selective for certain ovarian stages which varied according to the species. Phaenicia eximia (Wiedemann) was attracted to the traps mainly to oviposit, whereas females of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann), C. putoria (Wiedemann) and C. megacephala (Fabricius) were captured in intermediate stages of oogenesis but seldom with eggs mature for oviposition. It is concluded that this kind of baited trap is unsuitable for the collection of male blowflies and that samples of female blowflies are specifically biased in favour of certain ovarian conditions.     

African and European perception of African female attractiveness

Majority of research on attractiveness is restricted to faces of European origin. The perception of attractiveness may, however, vary across communities due to variations in both facial morphology and local standards of beauty. We investigated the relative contribution of four facial markers of attractiveness based on 101 female facial portraits (standardized, non-manipulated) from Cameroon and Namibia, which were assessed by local male raters and by raters from a distant European population, the Czech Republic. Images from Cameroon include only women of Bantu origin, while Namibians are represented by women of both Bantu (Owambo/Herero) and Nama origin. While controlling for age and BMI, we explored the relationship between female attractiveness and a set of facial traits: fluctuating asymmetry, averageness, shape sexual dimorphism, and skin color (rated and measured in CIELab color space).In the Cameroonian sample, local male raters favored lighter-skinned female faces with morphology closer to average. The attractiveness of Nama women as rated by Nama men positively correlated with lighter complexion, but this did not extend to rating by Cameroonian men. The attractiveness of Namibian Owambo/Herero women was positively associated with facial femininity and lighter complexion when judged by both Cameroonian and Nama male raters. In all samples, the attractiveness as rated by Czech men was predicted by age and BMI, but not by skin color. We found no significant association between attractiveness and fluctuating asymmetry in any of the tested samples. When controlling for age, the effect of skin color on attractiveness turned to be non-significant in the Owambo/Herrero and Nama sample, but remained significant in the Cameroonian sample. Variations in skin color thus represent an important factor of African female attractiveness within the African context, but they do not seem to affect judgements made by European raters. Sensitivity to some facial markers of female attractiveness thus seems to be restricted to regional populations and/or constrained by shared ethnicity.     

Cues to fertility: perceived attractiveness and facial shape predict reproductive success

Attractive facial features in women are assumed to signal fertility, but whether facial attractiveness predicts reproductive success in women is still a matter of debate. We investigated the association between facial attractiveness at young adulthood and reproductive life history—number of children and pregnancies—in women of a rural community. For the analysis of reproductive success, we divided the sample into women who used contraceptives and women who did not. Introducing two-dimensional geometric morphometric methodology, we analysed which specific characteristics in facial shape drive the assessment of attractiveness and covary with lifetime reproductive success. A set of 93 (semi)landmarks was digitized as two-dimensional coordinates in postmenopausal faces. We calculated the degree of fluctuating asymmetry and regressed facial shape on facial attractiveness at youth and reproductive success. Among women who never used hormonal contraceptives, we found attractive women to have more biological offspring than less attractive women. These findings are not affected by sociodemographic variables. Postmenopausal faces corresponding to high reproductive success show more feminine features—facial characteristics previously assumed to be honest cues to fertility. Our findings support the notion that facial attractiveness at the age of mate choice predicts reproductive success and that facial attractiveness is based on facial characteristics, which seem to remain stable until postmenopausal age.     

Categorical perception of human female physical attractiveness and health

Using realistic three-dimensional female body models, we found evidence for a categorical perception of female physical attractiveness and health in male and female Caucasian observers. In a rating task, we showed that these bodies were rated for attractiveness or health in the same way as real bodies. In a two-alternative forced-choice task, we showed that these bodies were categorized into attractive vs. unattractive or healthy vs. unhealthy nonlinearly, which allowed us to estimate the position of a categorical boundary between attractive and unattractive or healthy and unhealthy bodies. In a delayed match-to-sample task, we measured the sensitivity of discrimination between pairs of bodies. We found significantly better discrimination for pairs that crossed the attractive/unattractive or healthy/unhealthy boundary than pairs that did not, even though the physical changes in both conditions were identical. Thus, categorical perception enhances the perception of physical changes that cross the boundary between discrete perceptual categories of important judgments such as attractiveness or health, which can be a cue for mate selection.     

Human males and females body thermoregulation: Perfusion effect analysis

Skin temperature is a common physiological parameter that reflects thermal responses. Blood perfusion is an important part of the physiological processes that the human body undergoes in order to maintain homeostasis. This study focuses on the effect of perfusion on the temperature distribution in human males and females body in different thermal environment. The study has been carried out for one dimensional steady cases using finite element method. The input parameter of the model is the blood perfusion or volumetric flow rate within the tissue. The appropriate physical and physiological parameters together with suitable boundary conditions that affect the heat regulations have been incorporated in the model. The study is to have a better understanding that how does thermoregulation change in human males and females skin layered due to perfusion.     

Diet quality and the attractiveness of male body odor

Human axillary sweat may provide information pertaining to genetic relatedness and health status. A significant contributor to good health, both in the short and longer term, is a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. In this study we tested whether dietary fruit and vegetable intake, assessed indirectly by skin spectrophotometry (assessing dietary carotenoid intakes) and subjectively by food frequency questionnaire, was associated with more pleasant smelling sweat. Male participants provided axillary sweat samples and dietary information. Female participants then evaluated these samples on several affective, qualitative and psychophysical dimensions. The skin spectrophotometry measure (CIELab b*), indicative of greater fruit and vegetable intake, was significantly associated with more pleasant smelling sweat (with more floral, fruity, sweet and medicinal qualities), independent of sweat intensity. Self-report dietary data revealed that fat, meat, egg and tofu intake was associated with more pleasant smelling sweat, and greater carbohydrate intake with stronger smelling less pleasant sweat. These data parallel facial judgments, in which yellower more carotenoid rich skin, is found to be more attractive.     

Genetic association between male attractiveness and female differential allocation

Differential allocation of reproductive effort towards offspring of attractive mates is a form of post-copulatory mate choice. Although differential allocation has been demonstrated in many taxa, its evolutionary implications have received little attention. Theory predicts that mate choice will lead to a positive genetic correlation between female preference and male attractiveness. This prediction has been upheld for pre-copulatory mate choice, but whether such a relationship between male attractiveness and female differential allocation exists has never been tested. Here, we show that both female pre-copulatory mate choice and post-copulatory differential allocation are genetically associated with male attractiveness in house crickets, Acheta domesticus. Daughters of attractive males mated sooner and laid more eggs when paired with larger males. These forms of mate choice are strongest in large females, suggesting that costs decrease with increasing female size. The genetic association between attractiveness and differential allocation suggests potential for differential allocation to become exaggerated by coevolutionary runaway processes in an analogous manner to pre-copulatory choice. Sexual selection is thus likely to be stronger than predicted by pre-copulatory choice alone.     

The effect of meat consumption on body odor attractiveness

Axillary body odor is individually specific and potentially a rich source of information about its producer. Odor individuality partly results from genetic individuality, but the influence of ecological factors such as eating habits are another main source of odor variability. However, we know very little about how particular dietary components shape our body odor. Here we tested the effect of red meat consumption on body odor attractiveness. We used a balanced within-subject experimental design. Seventeen male odor donors were on "meat" or "nonmeat" diet for 2 weeks wearing axillary pads to collect body odor during the final 24 h of the diet. Fresh odor samples were assessed for their pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity, and intensity by 30 women not using hormonal contraceptives. We repeated the same procedure a month later with the same odor donors, each on the opposite diet than before. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the odor of donors when on the nonmeat diet was judged as significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense. This suggests that red meat consumption has a negative impact on perceived body odor hedonicity.     

Color 3D bodies and judgements of human female attractiveness

For a set of color video clips that depict a 360° view of the bodies of 43 young Caucasian women who are within the normal range of percentage of body fat, we show that their attractiveness to both male and female observers depends strongly on their percentage of body fat and their level of skin tanning, but is not significantly related to their cardiovascular fitness (a key health measure). Although evolutionary psychology suggests that physical health should play a role in determining attractiveness judgements, it appears that cardiovascular fitness may be a weak cue, at least in bodies not undergoing cardiovascular exercise. Instead, it seems that more salient cues, such as body mass and skin tanning, are the primary determinants of attractiveness judgements.     

Human dental arch shape evaluated by Euclidean-distance matrix analysis

Form differences between biological structures can be evaluated using several approaches. When landmark data are available, a recently proposed method (euclidean-distance matrix analysis) seems to be able to differentiate between size and shape differences. This method also localizes those areas which differ most between the two structures. We have applied it to analyze the sexual dimorphism in dental arch form in a sample of 50 men and 45 women. Subjects ranged in age between 20 and 27 years, and had sound dentitions. Fourteen landmarks, corresponding to the centers of gravity (centroids) of the occlusal surfaces of all permanent teeth (right second molar to left second molar), were individualized on the dental casts of subjects. All the possible linear distances between pairs of teeth were computed, thus creating four mean form matrices (one for each arch within sex). Gender differences were tested by using euclidean-distance matrix analysis. No significant differences were demonstrated in the shape of arches, while male arches proved to be slightly bigger than female arches. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A survey of overweight,body shape perception and eating attitude of Korean female university students

[Purpose]

We obtained basic data on a proper weight loss training program by considering the relationship between body mass index (BMI), the perception of appearance, and eating attitudes of Korean female university students.

[Methods]

The survey and anthropometry for the perception of appearance and eating attitudes were conducted targeting 657 female university students located in Seoul, Busan, Ulsan, Daejeon, Chungcheongnam-do, and Gangwon-do South Korea who were not specializing in physical education.

[Results]

The underweight group accounted for 21.16% of the population, the normal weight group comprised 69.71%, the overweight group was 6.09%, and the obese group accounted for 3.04%. The satisfaction rate of appearance was 56.16%, the dissatisfaction rate was 43.84%, and normal-weight students who were dissatisfied with their own appearance comprised 48.5%. The More obese students were more dissatisfied with their appearance. As a result of investigating eating attitudes, 37.75% of all subjects had a risk for an eating disorder, and 38.6% were normal weight but showed a risk for an eating disorder. More obese (BMI) subjects were at higher risk for an eating disorder.

[Conclusion]

The BMIs of the Korean female university students were lower than those of European and American Caucasian women students, but the dissatisfaction of Korean female university students with their appearances was greater than that of European and American students, indicating that more Korean female university students were suffering from an eating disorder. It is predicted that the incidence of eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, will rise in Korean women if there is no accurate understanding and measure to identify the high risk group for an eating disorder.