> I would like to make to point that western women have evolved with
> larger, taller frames and much curvier figures. In contrast Chinese
> and Asian women have evolved with a very petite build. It is unfair
> to western women to make this kind of comparison as most western
> women, even if very slim would still be "bigger" than most
> chinese/ asian counterparts due to their natural frame. Myself I am
> considered the ideal weight for my height, but am definately bigger
> than most chinese women!... that's not to say that there aren't many
> overweight women in the western world, but lets face it- with the
> popularity of western fast food restaurants now in china, some
> chinese women won't be far behind in a few years time!

I agree with most of what you are saying, but I would like to add that by Chinese standards, the ideal looks annorexic to most other countries in the world! From my experience, what is seen as ideal for a woman is skinny -meaning no emphasis on muscle tone, just skinny and fair skin. Westerners, particularly Americans, perfer the athletic look, we also have higher priority on curves. What I'm saying is that what East Asia considers "fat" is very different from what other parts of the world consider "fat".

And as you said, bodies are different.
For example, I had a wedding in Taiwan and I had to try on the "plus size" gowns because the rest wouldn't fit over my hips! I am a size US 4 and am considered by western medicine to me one pound underweight, YET I had to wear the "fat girl" size and I was told repeatedly that I would be "so pretty" if I lost some weight.

I also want to add that while Americans are famous for being fat, the English are actually statistically more overweight. Also, I'm sick of hearing that McDonalds/American fast food is to blame for Asian obesity. The simple fact is that American food is just as healthy, but you have to choose what you eat. If you eat crap food/fast food, of course it won't be healthy. Same with Chinese food, there is healthy and not-healthy, but not-healthy tastes hellufa lot better so you shouldn't characterize a whole culture's food by their crap/fast food.