Social body weight norms: a population-based profile in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States

Which body weight is considered ideal and socially accepted in modern societies? A widely held belief is that social body weight norms are strict and thin in Western societies. This belief is supported by empirical evidence drawn from samples that do not necessarily represent common views in the population.

This study presents a population-based profile of social body weight norms using survey data collected in 2019 in the United States (N = 1,390, ages 18 to 84), Germany (N = 4,285, ages 24 to 74), and the Netherlands (N = 2,040, ages 18 to 84). Norms were measured on a validated figure rating scale.

In all study populations, male and female figures representing the range from normal weight to slight overweight were generally rated as ideal and neither too thin nor too heavy. Heavier norms were found in older people and men, and more often in the Netherlands than in Germany and the United States. People generally perceived social body weight norms as thinner than what actual ratings revealed. This perception bias was most pronounced in the United States.

These findings provide a population-representative baseline of social body weight norms and contradict the notion of a thinness norm.