Strollerderby

maybe age is a lurking variable, i.e. the women who are most content are of the age where they tend to be a little bigger?

i agree that images representing women in fashion magazines are harmful society as a whole, but to judge their level of life contentment on their size?

we judge others to feel better about ourselves... and that is what this post does. as a feminist, i believe no woman should have to judge another to feel good about herself, loving yourself comes from within. so, now that we are led to believe all skinny women are miserable, what are we going to do? throw it in their face and make them feel even worse? "haha i told you so"?  this is horrible.

i'll get off my soapbox now :)

Although I usually think these kinds of studies are BS, I can totally see how this is true. Women that are UK size 14 or 12 are healthy (not overweight/obese), but they are not so obsessed with how they look that they sacrifice nutrition for health.

Now that I think of it, most of the women I know who eat very little to stay skinny are not happy at all. I do know some people who just love to exercise, or are extremely outdoorsy, and they are usually thin and happy. (Although once you have a kid, the time to do all of this usually goes out the window.)

I am skinny.  Always have been.  I eat as much as I want and still, I'm a stick and have the figure of a 12 year old boy  (even though I'm now 40 and have 2 kids).  This is simply the way I am.  It troubled me when I was much younger, since I simply could not gain weight no matter how much I tried.  I now realize this is the way I come, and am happy.  

It is clear that some people believe I deprive myself of food, or am a super jock to be this way.  (Quite frankly, I am skinny AND flabby, sadly.)  And now, according to this article, I am supposed to be miserable to boot.

Let's try not to judge others by the way they look (thank you, amandamaren!).  If people obsess about the way they look, big or small, they will surely be less happy than those who accept the way the are.  It seems to me that some who are unhappy with their own weight take great joy in the perceived unhappiness of those skinnier than themselves.

Well, laugh away, people, while I go drink another whole-milk mocha, extra whip (how many calories? who cares!!!).

That picture is scary.

amandamaren - this is simply reporting the findings of a study (how accurate the study is is another story). it's not judging and it does not intend to imply that it is right or wrong that these women feel the way they do at a given weight.

I was much happier with my body when I was skinnier. I was generally quite happy back then -- engaged, in grad school, good life. I troubled by my body now (I won't go so far as to say unhappy) after two kids. But I'm happier, I guess, as I'm now married and have two kids. I'm going with the "older women weighing more and being happier because they've had fuller lives" hypothesis mentioned above. (But, Lord, how I want my old body back!)

I think dieters are generally always unhappy, and people who can't accept their bodies however they turn out in terms of size, shape, et c. are generally unhappy. But the woman who is healthy at a size 2 and happy with it, the woman who is healthy at a 12 and accepts her body, the woman who is healthy at a 22 and accepts her body - I expect them all to be able to enjoy life pretty equally.

Happy is a pretty subjective term, and the size issue doesn't take into account wether the person was ever "skinny" or has always been that size. I know for the skinny folks I hang out with size is more of an issue of fitness and I doubt a study like this takes activity into account.

I think it would make sense that women who aren't either skinny or fat but just healthy would be happier than those on the extremes. Balanced is always best.