WIN Wyoming

Thought Bullets
for
May 2000

A research article in the March 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reviewed the changes in body types of Miss America winners. The article gives insight into the journey of defining "ideal female body type" over the last 78 years in the United States.

• Currently, an estimated 50% -75% of adolescent girls are dissatisfied with their weight and body image. An obsession with thinness is a contributing factor to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. How have societal icons like Miss America contestants contributed to this dissatisfaction?
  
  
• Weight data of Miss America winners were compiled from 1922-1999 (pageant was not held from 1927-1933). There was a significant time-dependent decline in body mass index (BMI). Early winners had BMI’s ranging between 20-25. Over the years, an increasing number of winners were in the BMI of undernutrition as defined by the World Health Organization (BMI < 18.5).
  
  
• Miss America of 1941 had the highest BMI of 22.4. Miss America of 1986 had the lowest BMI of 16.9.
  
  
• The heaviest Miss America winner weighed 143 pounds (1952). The lightest Miss America winner weighed 108 pounds (1921). This seems to reflect the "flapper look" of the 1920's and the "Marilyn Monroe look" of the 1950's.
  
  
• The progressive thinness of Miss America winners is not a result of an increase in height. Pageant winners’ average height increased less than 2% over the years. Body weight decreased by 12%.
  
  
• The pageant stopped listing contestants’ height and weights in 1990. The chief executive of the pageant states the pageant now emphasizes "brains over beauty." (Source: AP article by John Curran, Laramie Daily Boomerang, March 22, 2000.) Does this mean a female must chose between the two? Does this mean beauty is defined by physical characteristics only? What about the beauty that encompasses a zest for living, a compassion for others, a fun loving spirit?

Source:  Rubinstein S, Caballero B.  Is Miss America an undernourished role model?  (Research letter to the editor.)  Journal of the American Medical Association.  2000;283;(12).  Available at <http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v283n12/full/jlt0322-6.html>.

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD, 4-H Youth Specialist, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wyoming; bholmes@uwyo.edu.

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