Mean body mass indices (BMIs, kg/m(2)) of North Americans aged 18 to 24 col
lected from 11 national health surveys were compared to: Playboy centerfold
models, Miss America Pageant winners, and Playgirl models. The survey samp
les were representative of the mix of different ethnic and racial groups in
Canada and the USA. No racial or ethnic information was available for eith
er the Playboy women or the Miss America Pageant winners. Ninety percent of
the Playgirl men were white; 10%, black; 1.5%, Hispanic black; and .8%, Am
erican Samoan. From the 1950s to the present, while the body sizes of Miss
America Pageant winners decreased significantly and the body sizes of Playb
oy centerfold models remained below normal body weight, the body sizes of P
laygirl models and young adult North American women and men increased signi
ficantly. The increase in body size of Playgirl models appears to be due to
an increase in muscularity, whereas the increase in body size of young Nor
th American men and women is more likely due to an increase in body fat. Th
us, in the 1990s, the body size and shape of the average young adult North
American became increasingly different from the ideal being promoted by the
media. Furthermore the difference in male and female body sizes depicted b
y the media in the 1990s was huge, whereas the difference between the body
sizes of 18- to 24-year-old North American women and men was actually quite
small. These discrepancies are discussed in relation to the different soci
ocultural expectations for the two genders and the increasing prevalence of
body dissatisfaction reported by both women and men.