This Is What A Normal, Healthy, Average Female Body Looks Like

This is what a normal, healthy, average female body looks like.

This is model Katie H. Willcox. She's 5'9" and 165lbs, which puts her BMI index at 24.4. According to that she is just barely within the normal weight range, but still within the normal range. She's not obese, she's not overweight, she's normal. And that doesn't even take into account her pretty nose to the grindstone work out regime, which, if you know anything about BMI, means that it's quite likely she is well within a healthy body fat percentage because of added muscle weight throwing the BMI out.

This Is What A Normal, Healthy, Average Female Body Looks Like

This is yet another model named Katie Green. She's 5'10" and a US size 10. Sure she's bigger than your average model, but she's not even plus size, and slightly smaller than your average woman. Factoring in her height and clothing size, her BMI is probably lower than Katie H. She is still well within what is scientifically considered a normal, healthy size.

This last woman, pictured here (sorry for the link guys the image wasn't the right size or something) is Heidi Ricketson at 5'4" and 150lbs, she does figure competitions. This is her "before" photo where she has bulked on the muscle but hasn't crash dieted the fat off yet. Based on BMI she is slightly in the overweight range but considering she is a body builder this is less applicable. I will consider her, as the other 2, just inside of the normal weight range.

I have chosen 3 very fit, healthy, active and diet concious women who represent the average size of a woman in the US, about a size 12. The models are taller, of course, and well models and the average woman is also not a body builder. But the average woman does sit on the line between being considered normal vs overweight. There really is no health risk associated with this size of a person, especially if the person is like any pictured above, where they keep in good shape, eat well, and have a lot of lean muscle mass.

The GaG Polling

So I asked if these women were skinny (link to GaG question), not expecting anyone to actually agree, but to see how our descriptions of size actually compare to relatively average, relatively healthy size.

It turns out, not terrible lol. Roughly 30% considered one or more of them to be skinny, and 7% considered them to all be fat. The majority of people (55%) considered them not skinny, but did not choose to label them all as fat although the option was there. (Poll percentages are so far as the question is still open).

In the comments while many people did describe them as normal, healthy, and average, some people described them as fat and out of shape.The impression I got from most of the comments was that all of these women were walking a fine invisible line between just right and totally fat and undesirable. The line between normal and overweight. While there were a handful that considered them already past that line only two bothered to comment to the effect that they actually were skinny.

My Two Cents

While I was pleasantly surprised by the actual results, which support that despite media images the preference is still for realistic looking women and most people have a decent sense of what that is, I am still a little disapointed. Not in anything I can really pinpoint, just disapointed. I guess it's better than nothing that our society, or at least our little GaG community, mostly has realistic expectations of womens bodies.

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Most Helpful Girl

  • I've never really stepped inside one of those BodPod things to compute my fat percentage. Maybe I'll get around to it, once I earn/save enough money. Until then, I'm just going to strive to lower my LDL cholesterol level, eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and exercise regularly.

Most Helpful Guy

  • She has a muffin top/large "love handles" tho. I could make a diet plan in about 5 minutes that would get rid of that for her.

    • Are you talking about the first woman? Hardly, fat is distributed to the hip area in women before any where else, and you'd have to be a real fitness buff to get rid of every little bit of excess fat in this area. Just looks like a normal healthy woman to me.

    • @GhostOnToast Ya I like to just shoot for average, that's how I accomplish things in life.

    • Me too! Well things that aren't cause for concern, anyway.

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What Girls & Guys Said

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  • ... those chicks aren't healthy though?
    Normal, yes. Then again, overweight/obese is slowly but surely becoming the new norm, so... not sure if those chicks being 'normal' is really all that positive of a thing.

  • I think, given all the pressure we feel now with the media, and people who talk too much in society, the best thing women can do for ourselves is stop trying to categorise or justify our body shape.

    It's stressful, and traps us in a contradictory loop that'll never end. You'll end up being slightly disillusioned about how you look because you overthink it. You'll end up being too busy justifying it to change, and miss your life happening around you. You'll also end up stirring up negative, jealous thoughts towards people who have a slimmer, more model-like body shape.

    And as for attractiveness? People will find you attractive if their tastes are such that you are attractive. If they do not, there is nothing you can do to change that, but there is always someone out there who would totally 10/10 bang you. Love yourself, and you will glow.

    Healthy women come in different shapes and sizes. Attractive women come in different shapes and sizes. Just stop giving a rat's ass, and take it slowly. Don't let your body shape rule your life! You might even find it easier to control your body shape when it stops controlling you.

  • There has been some discussion, about BMI, recently, and the basis for the numbers!! I would say that any of those look NORMAL and aside from the lines, on the first, they are all PERFECT to me!!

  • I like that you made this MyTake.

    I can see both sides, so I'm really torn. For others, as long as THEY'RE happy; then I'm happy for them.

    For myself (my body) average is not good enough.

  • They could all stand to be more toned and thinner. you dot need to be flabby to be healthy.

    • Disagree with the first part, agree with the second.

    • I love ShoeOnHead, but I think you missed the entire point of myTake by assuming my argument is something that it isn't.

    • "Average is beautiful" is essentially the statement. "I'm still upset, but I guess it's *okay* that society and GAG have realistic *expectations* of women." Literally none of them are "skinny". They are borderline overweight. That is simply fact. They are *barely* healthy, ready to fall into unhealthy territory within a week. Yet, your "expectation" is that others should view them as skinny, per your stated "pleasant surprise". You essentially claimed they were the quintessence of health. It also establishes a PC-intolerance of anyone who views them as un-skinny. Not to mention the opening chick is holding a barbie doll as a contrast. Your implicit statement is "view average women as skinny". Your stance melds very well with "burn skinny anorexic, unrealistic bitches". I very much wanted to leave in the "Never improve," because *70%* of the U. S. is overweight. Average is not healthy in the US. Your enforcement of "average is beautiful"

    • Not to mention. They are *not* average. 70%. 35% of the US is obese. 70% is overweight. The average female BMI is 26.5. Overweight. The average woman in the US sits *over* the line of healthy and overweight. Do you honestly think they're skinny? Because in your last couple of paragraphs, you extol the ones who vote "skinny" and bemoan the ones who voted fat. Politically correct in a nutshell, which is very relative to the video I posted. That statement fits very well in with the idea that a skinny barbie should be fattened up and averageized. In essence, you want society to perceive Wallflower Wendy as barbie, because you don't want people to "expect" anything but borderline overweight from women. And I know you'll say "no, I'm not, I mentioned they were active and healthy." Yes. You did. For like one of them. They are still on the border between healthy and overweight--not in any perceivable way skinny.

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  • 'barely in within the normal weight range'. Yeah that's the whole problem with the whole 'curvy' trend. Some are actually overweight or barely in normal range. What happened to the actual healthy girls with a bmi of around 20 or 21? Then people don't hve to force guys to find curvy women attractive, because that's actually what they really find attractive.

    • What you find normal probably fits under the slim category. Men are not forced to like average or curvy women. Some men actually do find average or curvy women attractive and others don't they prefer slim chicks.

    • @Shorty1991 still, except for some chubby chasers I've never met a guy who didn't like a 'slim' body type. Maybe they also like average, but they almost always like slim and healthy. The more serious problem is that overweight or almost overweight is considered 'normal'.

    • Actually the evidence to support that normal BMI is even actually the healthiest is flimsy at best and a lot of studies support that people in the overweight category are probably marginally healthier. So no, I wouldn't call it a serious problem at all that it's considered normal. Men chasing after skinny is primarily I think a result of our society's veiws rather than a real inherent preference in most cases. Kind of like that culture which rates a woman's beauty by the length of her neck, or our own culture some years ago which prefered the tighter cinched waist. Obviously however, wearing corsets and neck rings are quite inherently bad for you, causing deformities which increase the likelihood of health problems and impede normal daily functioning. I'm not going to insist that being skinny, at least reasonably skinny and not underweight, is somehow comparably bad for you but I beleive that you are confusing a beauty/status symbol with health.

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  • Those women look pretty sexy and desirable to me. They aren't skinny sure, I dated a skinny woman once (I mean really skinny lol, like she was an A-cup because of how skinny she was) and these women are what I'd happily describe as healthy. I would have no problem getting to know any of them ;)

  • I'm average build with a broad frame and I'm still healthy. I would say unhealthy was getting to the state of morbidly obese when you can't run or jog and when your walk becomes more of a hobble.

  • These are women are normal, healthy, and average but it isn't the only way a normal, health, and average woman can look. Some will be thinner. They don't need to be but it's possible. Also this is kind of a tangent but that first picture reminds of the, you can't expect women to look like barbie argument, I would just like to say that nobody in their right mind expects that and in real life that might be horrifying. It's a toy. No more no less. Not saying the poster thinks this but just whoever it applies to.

    • Oh yeah, I just felt like thinner women don't really need an advocate, it's already a widely accepted body type and people aren't very critical of (as far as I've seen its mostly just crazy feminists and in extreme thin cases where anorexia may be an issue). I wasn't trying to represent that everyone should look like this just that there really isn't anything wrong with it, that, and pretty well most people fall into this size bracket. Yeah I don't think people want people to look like barbies I just liked the photo for the plastic surgery implications and the general idea that women struggle with self-image related to body size.

    • Yeah it's a good image especially when you put it that way. I figured you weren't discrimating against thinner women and I agree that they probably don't need to defend themselves but I just felt like throwing it out there. There are some of these average women posts throughout the Internet that make you cringe and this one is one of the good ones. I read my original comment again and I didn't mean to be as critical as I sounded in my comment.

    • It wasn't so bad, I like critical, it helps me form my arguments more carefully. You at least were working off what I actually said, so many words are being put in my mouth in the comments here lol.

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  • They're all ok, but the middle one is hot. But I prefer meaty women.
    However, saying things like "the average woman is a size 16 or whatever" isn't saying much when a 3rd of the country is obese, and over 2/3 are overweight.

    As for your original question, they aren't skinny nor fat.

    • The overall obesity overweight average is actually beefed up by men being mostly in the overweight category, whereas women trend more towards normal.

    • No. Women are usually more heavy, but that's fine because we're supposed to be more chunky than men. I read somewhere that black women have the highest obesity rates.

    • Women usually have more fat but mens muscle mass contributes to a lot of them being considered overweight because overweight just means BMI 25-30 and nothing else.

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  • They all seem healthy to me. That's what matters.

  • Now do one for men. Every one talks about women being subject to unrealistic expectations but why does no one consider that men also have absurd expectations?(every woman seems to want a man above average height, six pack (according to billboards, male models, male pornstars, actors etc) and a chiseled jaw. Yet no one seems all that concerned. I'm not trying to bash your take (although really the only thing you have learned is what men have already stated, men have a variety of tastes and are usually pretty leniant about what they find attractive) but rather just venting my frustration that the flip side of the question is completely ignored.

    • You could always do one for men. In regards to body image it is the same for men and women, but in regards to physical health it is not. The ideal body shape and type for women is only achieved by most women by being anorexic or other eating/overexercising disorders which pose serious health risks to women. To the best of my knowledge there's no male equivalent of this.

    • Well as your take pointed out, that is not the ideal body image. And their are plenty of equiavlents. When a man spends hours at the gym seven days a week and describes what he eats in calories instead of food items thats an equivalent (You don't get a six pack because your healthy, you get it by limiting food and calorie intake to an extreme degree, its not normal). Extreme working out isn't healthy for you and in fact some people are dying because of overdosing on various work out suppliments and such because they are so desperateley trying to get that perfect appearence that women want (You look at the cover of magazines and books and you will see a variety of women, but you only see one type of man and no one wants to admit this) when 1-2% of the female population has an eating disorder while 1% of men do, that may not seem like a big difference but then when you account fo the fact that 4% of men will use steriods thats a big difference.

    • Your take pointed out that on average men like average women. So we can say their really isn't an issue. Yet your immedate claim that, despite all evidence (as I have pointed out) you see no equivalent seems to me a bigger issue. The reason why I asked you to do it is for two reasons. One your the one who brought up the issue yet you did a very one sided approach just as all women seem to do. Its important that women realize that they are pushing unrealistic expectations on men from height to having a six pack etc. The other reason is because quite simply, I am a man. If I say it it will be ignored (not unlike your dismissal of my statements). Any time a man states their is a problem that men have it bad or are suffering in some way it is immediatley dismissed as them "whining" or them being "butthurt" over something or other. Ergo it would be more logical for you a woman to do it then me because it will have a greater impact.

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  • I wouldn't say they are fat, but to European standard they are certainly above average. I don't necessarily disagree with your take, but I do see a trend where the avarage size and weight of men and women alike gets higher, we eat more fat and move less, and now people claim that the beauty standards are unrealistic and we all should embrace what "actual" men and women look like. While I think most models are too skinny (or too young since most models are cast around age 14 and are presented as sex symbols which is unhealthy), I don't think we should adjust our standards to everything that society becomes. In 5 years the avarage size may be 14 or 16, and I do think that's obese. Size 12 is, for me, JUST not fat. And as think it's still a healthy size, it's definitely not the most attractive women's body for me. To me, European size 36, which is UK/AUSTRALIA size 8 and US size 4 (!) is the most attractive. But I think women with size 6-8 still are very attractive as well, since attractiveness not all about size. The most important traits are health and happiness.

    • The main thing is that I disagree that size is actually a good measure of health in the first place. But beyond that, we have come to idolize a size that is fairly ridiculous and have a misunderstanding about size and disease and what the whole damn thing means in general.

  • This maybe healthy but this isn't average. At least in my country. My aunties look like this, but an average ~25 yo woman? Nah!

    • Yeah I didn't really take into account many other countries or other races even... This is what a normal, healthy, average white western european woman in the US looks like... it's a bit of a mouthful see lol.

  • Most of the people on GAG aren't very bright. Anyone with a brain (I talk to my students who know this much) knows that if you have a large frame, and large muscle mass, it will skew your BMI results. In this case, many ideal weight people can show up as "Overweight", and many regularly overweight people can show up as "Obese." BMI scales often show muscular professional athletes as "Overweight" too. It's stupid.

    The girls look fine. You can be healthy in a wide range of sizes (Except for the most extreme cases).

    But like I said, don't expect the people on this site to have much common sense.

    • Yeah I just tried to use BMI to support that you can't call them overweight because (minus the last one) they are regarded as normal even by that. I feel like people struggle with the concept that the size we idealize is on the very cusp of underweight. While some women are naturally very thin, it's terribly unhealthy for most women to try to acheive that size. And agreed and a wide range of sizes is healthy. Not the focus of myTake, but everyone has a different body and what is natural and healthy for some is not for others. I was aiming to showcase the middle really. Also agreed. I can't beleive how much flack this is getting. And people just making claims that totally ignore evidence presented in the take, it's irritating. Ah well lol.

    • The people on this site deny Biological, and Medical evidence. I had one guy try to argue with me about what is healthy, and what isn't healthy. I told him he can CALL MY DOCTOR, AND the DIETITIAN I see, who gave me the information I needed. He even admitted to me he had no medical experience within the profession, yet, STILL denied evidence. But like I said, the people on GAG are quite morons.

    • Exactly I agree they call anything that isn't toned fat

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  • Just sounds like excuses for American women to be lazy.

    • I like how you specified "American women". Because we're all lazy. How about you do my workout for 3 months and tell me how lazy "American women" are. Just word things more carefully in the future.

    • @Smmyskittles America is one of the fattest countries out there. We've got a serious obesity, diabetes, and heart disease problem. I am an American woman, and our country is too fat. That's just the reality.

    • Yes but grouping EVERYONE from one country together by saying "American women" is over-board. There is a serious problem, so target the "Overweight/obese women in America" instead of all women.

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  • "Normal" is debatable. "Healthy" and "Average" are mutually exclusive, at least at the moment.

    Sadly the top 2 are above average.

  • Their BMI's are ON THE BRINK of the overweight mark. (Normal BMI is 18.5-24.9). It isn't surprising that half the population thought they were overweight, as all three of them are very close to that region!

    • Most doctors know that Body Mass Index scales are often inaccurate. They don't take into account frame size, or muscle mass. With this logic, many professional athletes are "overweight."

    • @EnglishArtsteacher Yes but it is the case with professional athletes because they have a lot of muscle and muscle is much heavier than fat... These women are not athletes. They are sitting at the upper end of the range from weight of fat, not weight of muscle.

    • Actually as I pointed out in the take they all work out, the first two are models with very large frames, and last one is actually a body builder...

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  • anyone who would consider them anywhere close to overweight are the low IQ gym head morons or the people that are naturally toothpicks. I would see her as skinny to underweight. Real women have curves, they can keep up with me in a meal or a snack. I don't want to date a woman that is perpetually on a diet so we can never have late night taco bell or something like that. Besides, i don't want a woman so thin I will break her during sex...

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