The Washington Post today published an Associated Press article whose lead was, "Thin is still in, but apparently fat is nowhere near as out as it used to be."
The article reports on market research by NPD Group. It finds, after surveying nearly 2,000 people, that the percentage of Americans who find overweight people less attractive has dropped from 55 percent to 24 percent over the past two decades.
The article implies that growing acceptance may stem from growing waistlines, since two thirds of Americans are officially overweight. (Being fat has scarcely been a reliable predicter of fat acceptance, but let that pass.)
NPD does report rather interestingly that salads as a main course in restaurant meals peaked at 10 percent in 1989 but now account for less than 6 percent of them. (I can recall that in the days when salad bars were proliferating the most, sales of super-premium ice cream also soared.)
I wonder if some of this is nothing more than changing fashion, in which subsequent generations distinguish themselves through almost randomly different preferences on this and that. Of course, I have always liked precisely what I like now.
The article reports on market research by NPD Group. It finds, after surveying nearly 2,000 people, that the percentage of Americans who find overweight people less attractive has dropped from 55 percent to 24 percent over the past two decades.
The article implies that growing acceptance may stem from growing waistlines, since two thirds of Americans are officially overweight. (Being fat has scarcely been a reliable predicter of fat acceptance, but let that pass.)
NPD does report rather interestingly that salads as a main course in restaurant meals peaked at 10 percent in 1989 but now account for less than 6 percent of them. (I can recall that in the days when salad bars were proliferating the most, sales of super-premium ice cream also soared.)
I wonder if some of this is nothing more than changing fashion, in which subsequent generations distinguish themselves through almost randomly different preferences on this and that. Of course, I have always liked precisely what I like now.