The role of body fat in female attractiveness

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of body fat percentage (BF%) on female attractiveness. To this end, a series of female body images were selected from a collection of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans. Images were stratified by three levels (low, mid, and high) of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and seven levels (15%–50%) of BF%. These 21 images were presented in a random order and rated for attractiveness. Results indicate that WHR, BMI, and BF% are all significant predictors of female attractiveness when regressed separately (R2= 0.19, 0.70, and 0.76, respectively). When regressed simultaneously, all three variables accounted for 87% of the variance in image attractiveness, with only BF% and WHR being significant predictors. Further analysis revealed that body fat might disrupt the negative linear relationship between WHR and attractiveness. Men and women differed significantly in most categories of WHR and BF%, with men generally rating images as less attractive than women. These data indicate that BF% appears to be a strong cue for attractiveness and that the impact of WHR and BMI on attractiveness is dependent, in part, on BF%. The appearance of body fat may provide disruption in the visual cues of both shape and size of the female body, potentially impacting behavior.