Behavioral Ecology Blog

There is a recent article in ScienceDaily that is a bit concerning… Obese Girls Less Likely To Attend College. In the summary, they say:

Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin.

The study also shows obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they attend a high school where obesity is relatively uncommon.

It seems obvious that most of this is related to body image/self esteem issues.. a hypothesis that is bolstered by the following conclusion.

Obese boys did not differ from their non-obese peers in college enrollment.

On one hand, this is yet another example of the harmful physical and psychological effects of obesity on young people. On the other- and maybe even more troubling is how it demonstrates how the media effects young minds and their perception of “normal bodies”. Just look at ANY fashion magazine, to see what I mean.. Hell, look at the Gap Kids- you’ll see normal weight kids highly underrepresented.

Why are we so stuck on super-skinny women- especially in light of evolutionary theory which might predict that a more fully figured woman would be more likely to be able to physically nurture offspring… Maybe this is a sign of how strong the influence of culture really is…

Unfortunately, this is one of those issues where there isn’t too much to be done- aside from educating your own children… There are no “fatties only” movies that one could support preferentially over “skinny girls only” movies. There are no retailers that refuse to support unhealthy practices in models, ect… If I as an individual wanted to do something about it- what would I do???

Slightly peripheral, please take the poll on the right—> there is one for men, and one for women.

The question: Think of your current sexual partner (or the last one for those of you without “currents”). How much difference exists between their weight and the weight of your ideal partner….

Again… There is a separate poll for men and women…