A Study on Real Body Size and Ideal Body Shape of 18 to 26 Year-Old Women

20대(代) 여성의 실제(實際) 체형(體型)과 이상형(理想型)에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to study real body size and ideal body shape by consoidering the degree of satisfaction at body part and understanding body size by the degree of leanness/obesity. The subjects in this study were 201 female college students aged from 18 to 26. Boby measurements and survey were taken from May to June, 1991 and 1992. Data were analyzed by correlation analysis, regression analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA, discriminant analysis and crosstabulation analysis. The results were as follows ; 1. The subjects tended to be satisfied with long and slim limbs, slim trunk, and prefered to be tall in height and light in weight. Also the consciousness about thickness was keener than that about length of the body. 2. The subjects were conscious that lower body was more obese than and upper body. Also, the consciousness of whole body had higher correlation with that of upper body than lower body. 3. The subjects were classified into 4 clusters each consisting 23, 87. 68, 23 by cluster analysis of 21 variables after a transformation of measurements to eliminate body size factor. This classification was considered to express how lean or how obese a human body appears. 4. According to the degree of leanness/obesity from lean tendency group I to obese tendency group IV, characteristics of the body shape were changed as follows ; height lower, limbs shorter, trunk and limbs thicker and weight heavier. 5. The subjects of lean tendency group I were more satisfied with their body than those of obese tendency group IV. 6. The subjects, although they were not judged to be obese by somatometric measurements, felt themselves obese. Also, they hoped to be slimmer at lower body than upper body.