Whatever Happened to my Waist?

Just can't seem to get away from discussions about the fact that we're all getting older and fatter. Remember the hourglass figure? Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch, Marilyn Monroe...... She had what was officially termed an hourglass figure didn’t she?

Well it seems the hourglass figure has fallen victim to the ‘sands of time’ and the effects of too many packets of crisps. Nowadays bust and hips are bigger than ever, but you have to admit the sight of the old waspish waist is one that’s very few and far between. Data shows that over the past half century the average British woman's waist has expanded by 6.8 inches to 34.4 inches. Since 1951, the average bust has increased by 2in to 39in and hips by a further 2in to 41in. So on average that’s around 10lb heavier. And don’t LAUGH boys!!! YOURE not of the hook either. The survey of 9,000 British men and women discovered that MEN have gone through a similar expansion. British males are now an average of seven inches fatter around the waist (shame it has to go on the waist) and 18lb heavier than they were during the post-war years. Britain is still ahead of the good old USA though. British women are an average of 3lb lighter and 0.4inches slimmer than their U.S. counterparts and British men are 12lb lighter and 1.1in thinner than the average American.
So womens waists have grown nearly 7 inches in the UK in the past 50 years…… Hmmmm!