title: Waist-to-hip ratio versus body mass index as predictors of fitness in women.
abstract: The claim that men prefer women with low waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) has been vigorously disputed. We examine self-report data from 359 primiparous Polish women (with normal singleton births and healthy infants) and show that WHR correlates with at least one component of a woman's biological fitness (her first child's birth weight, a variable that significantly affects infant survival rates). However, a woman's Body Mass Index (BMI) is a better predictor of her child's neonatal weight in small-bodied women (<54 kg). The failure to find a preference for low WHR in some traditional populations may thus be a consequence of the fact that, even in western populations, body mass is a better predictor of fitness in those cases characterized by low maternal body weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Wrocław, u. Kuznicza 35, 50-138, Wrocław, Poland. bogus@antrope.uni.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pawłowski
authors.affiliation: University of Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: R I M
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Dunbar
keywords: Body Mass Index (BMI); Fitness; Neonatal weight; Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR)