This Is What The Average Woman in the UK Really Looks Like

We’ve become programmed to believe that the average woman in the UK is a perfect size 8, an ideal hourglass shape with no lumps, bumps or cellulite but that’s a false reality we’ve become tuned into through social media.

The most recent surveys into women’s size show that ‘Miss Average’ here in the UK is actually a size 16. A number of studies have been conducted into this over the years and actually, results haven’t changed much for the last 10+ years, however, looking back over 60 years, the average female in the UK has got bigger and our idea of the perfect shape has changed too.

Back in the ’60s, icons such as Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton had much straighter figures than we desire today, a far cry from the hourglass shape women strive for now. But the small waist with wider hips and bust isn’t a new shape and actually dates back to the ’40s when stars such as Marilyn Monroe were known for their sexy, curvy shapes.

So, what does the average lady look like today?

As well as being a bigger dress size than in the past, women are also sporting bigger busts too. According to the Telegraph, the average size of a women’s bra here in the UK has increased around 3 sizes in the cup and two inches around the chest in just 11 years!

Moving on from being a nation of 34Bs to now 36DDs, it’s no surprise the hourglass figure has become more desirable, adapting our views of what is perfect, to what is actually becoming more common!

But what about our waists? Although the average waist back in the ‘50s was around 28 inches, our now fuller figures tend to boast a waist circumference of around 34 inches. A little smaller than the average chest size, allowing Miss Average to sport a slight hourglass shape but this fact proves that the likes of Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé are likely to be sporting waist sizes of the ‘50s with bust sizes of 2019 to achieve their eye-catching silhouettes!

Moving down the body, you may be surprised to know that our feet have actually grown in the last 60 years too! Back in the late ‘50s the average woman wore a size 3 shoe but nowadays, us UK females tend to wear a size 6, with women’s shoe shops commonly catering for size 8+.

So, over the last 60 years we’ve gained just over a stone on average and widened on all our measurements but why? Research suggests we consume around 500 more calories per day than women did back in the mid-1900s and a lot of this could be down to the availability of takeaways and convenience foods that simply didn’t exist 60 years ago.

More women now have driving licenses than they did back then and as we’re now a nation of two-car households, more women own their own cars than ever before and therefore the amount of walking we do on a daily basis has decreased.

However, we have become more frequent gym goers, a reason we may actually measure wider than we once did. Weight lifting for women simply wasn’t the done thing back in the day, so we may actually be more ‘hippy’ due to this too!

We may be bigger than we have been before, but are women more unhealthy? The average woman is now 11st, a weight that is considered ‘healthy’ for women 5ft 6 or above by the NHS but 11st does move into the NHS’s ‘overweight’ bracket for women 5ft 5 or under.

It has been proven we’re eating more calories too so could our new sizes potentially reflect a less healthy lifestyle? Size is an individual issue for each woman to deal with and although ‘Miss Average’ may measure a size 16 or 11 stone, woman can look very different, so health is determined by the individual.

If you do feel your size is not measuring within healthy guidelines, that is when action to lose weight should be taken, not just based on other people you have seen online! Bodyline Clinic are here to help if you do wish to start a weight loss journey, so get in touch today!