Obesity is defined as body weight of 15 percent or more above the ideal for one’s height and age. 62 this criterion, about one third of the adult population of the United States is obese. The 63 of obesity vary in different races, cultures, sub-cultures, and social classes. In industrialized countries, fatness tends to be 64 correlated with socioeconomic status: people in lower social classes tend to be more obese. In economically backward nations, the direction of the correlation is reversed; the richer, the fatter. The situation in the underdeveloped world probably approximates the 65 of affairs through most of human evolution. Particularly for women, 66 pregnancies could 67 into times of scarcity, larger internal food 68 were adapted in the face of variable external reserves. Although obesity may sound like a (n) 69 phenomenon, it is to some degree 70 relative. A study of black and white undergraduates yielded 71 results. Even though blacks, and especially black females, were heavier than whites, they were more satisfied with their weight and less likely to find weight in other people 72 Men were more concerned 73 the weight of their dates than women were, but black men were 74 likely to refuse to date a woman because of her weight. Contemporary North American culture is 75 with thinness, particularly for women. Compared to the Rubenesque view of beauty of just a few centuries ago, the prototypes of feminine beauty 76 in the mass media today look emaciated, that is, extremely thin. The standards have even changed 77 since the 1950s, when the prototype was replete with large breasts and slightly protruding abdomen. A study of Playboy centerfolds found a ten percent decrease in the ratio of weight to height from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, 78 by a dramatic increase in the number of articles on dieting in popular women’s magazines. In 79 to contemporary Western societies, some other cultures 80 beauty with bulk. This most often occurs in societies in which food is scarce, 81 women who are healthy and have more resources tend to be heavier and hence are seen as more attractive.