The World Health Report 2000 (WHR 2000) is probably best remembered for trying to stack the health systems of different countries up against each other using a uniform set of measures (WHO 2000). Certainly, senior health officials in my own country (South Africa) repeatedly referred to our ranking of 175 out of 191 countries, in terms of overall health system performance, to highlight our pligh...

Evidence is presented showing that body fat distribution as measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is correlated with youthfulness, reproductive endocrinologic status, and long-term health risk in women. Three studies show that men judge women with low WHR as attractive. Study 1 documents that minor changes in WHRs of Miss America winners and Playboy playmates have occurred over the past 30-60 ye...

Introductory psychology students (120 females and 120 males) rated attractiveness and fecundity of one of six computer-altered female Ž gures representing three body-weight categories (underweight, normal weight and overweight) and two levels of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), one in the ideal range (0.72) and one in the non-ideal range (0.86). Both females and males judged underweight Ž gures to be ...

Two putative cues to female physical attractiveness are body mass index (BMI) and shape (particularly the waist-hip ratio or WHR). To determine the relative importance of these cues we asked 23 male and 23 female undergraduates to rate a set of 60 pictures of real women's bodies in front-view for attractiveness. In our set of images, the relative ranges of BMI and WHR favoured WHR. We based the...

We examined relationships between repression, general maladjustment, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). The participants were 1,081 healthy older men from the Normative Aging Study. Repression and General Maladjustment Scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory were composite measures of personality. Repression was associated with lower BMI and WHR, and maladjus...

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are frequently studied physical attractiveness variables in social and evolutionary psychology. FA represents deviations in bilateral symmetry—differences between left and right body parts. WHR is the ratio of the smallest part of the waist to the largest part of the hips. Although FA and WHR are important mate preference criteria, researc...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the reliability of anthropometric measurements (weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist and hip circumferences (WC; HC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)) performed by doctors to assess obesity. METHOD Repeated anthropometric measurements were performed by 12 primary care physicians on 24 adult volunteers in Geneva, Switzerland, 2006. Volunteers (54% women, mean age 41) ...

The low proportion of waist to hip size in females is a unique and adaptive human feature. In contemporary human populations, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is negatively associated with women's health, fecundity, and cognitive ability. It is, therefore, hypothesized that men will prefer women with low WHR. Although this prediction is supported by many studies, considerable disagreement persists ...