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How The Ideal Miss Universe Body Has Changed Over Time

Miss Universe America and Miss Universe Australia. Photo: Getty Images.
Miss Universe America and Miss Universe Australia. Photo: Getty Images.

Every year, thousands of young women from 90 countries vie for the title (and the glittery crown) of Miss Universe. The pageant, which started as a marketing competition by California company Catalina Swimwear in 1952, has evolved over the past 63 years into an annual tradition celebrating intelligence, poise, and, of course, beauty.

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But what’s beautiful hasn’t remained the same over the past half century. And as U.K.-based Superdrug Online Doctor found, the idea of the “perfect woman’s body” has changed drastically since the 1950s. Full-coverage swimsuits and curvy figures have made way for outfits revealing much more of the body, including its thinning frame. However, upon closer inspection, it found that Miss Universe’s body wasn’t the only one changing — the public’s was too.

The health care site tracked the evolution of Miss Universe winners based on available height and weight data. It then compared them to the average height and weight of women between 20 and 29 in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

The results showed that not only were the genetically blessed Miss Universes taller and lighter than the average woman, the height and weight gap between the two groups was increasing year after year.

The study plotted Miss Universe BMIs against those of average women over the years. As the BMI of Miss Universe fell, the BMI of the average young woman steadily rose. In 1990, the turning point for both groups, the BMI of an average American woman shifted from normal to overweight while the BMI for Miss Universe winners dipped into the underweight range.

Although BMI was never meant to serve as an accurate measure of health, the widening gap still gives the researchers insight into how the bodies of the two groups are changing, and with it, some worrying implications.

“The growing disparity between the average BMI for a woman and Miss Universe’s BMI is representative of two worrisome trends: firstly the rise in obesity, and secondly a falling BMI amongst Miss Universe contestants that could be representative of the pressure placed on pageant participants,” the study explains.

"Looking at weight, the average weight of past winners paints a similar picture. Previous winners had an average weight that hovered at around 122 pounds, but the weight of an average woman has risen by more than 66 pounds. Interestingly, the weight of an average woman in the U.S. was below that of crowned Miss Universes in the ’50s and most of the ’60s."

Between the three measurements, height is the one that women have the least control over. Despite this, the height of Miss Universes has increased by four inches over the years, while the average woman’s height hardly budges from the 64-inch mark (5-foot-4) — something that researchers worry will give young women “unattainable ideas of beauty.”

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“Even without the pressures of Miss Universe — the societal pressures of the ideal body have fueled a steady increase in new cases of eating disorders, body dissatisfaction, depression, and other issues,” reads the study. “By exposing how unattainable — and unhealthy — today’s appearance standards are, we hope to encourage people to reconsider the true meaning of beauty, and strive for strong and healthy bodies.”