The Perception of the Ideal Body Contouring in Mexico

Abstract

Over the centuries, our appreciation of beauty has changed, as has the social environment that influences our perspective. Currently we are trying to use measurable instruments to achieve a better aesthetic result in each patient, using as a reference the "golden ratio," which is found in harmonies of all kinds-in art, nature, architecture, and today, in medicine-to aspire to the ideal proportion.

Methods: We conducted a survey in which we showed participants 4 digitally modified images of a model with different body proportions, 1 with the golden ratio and 3 with other variable proportions. In total, 900 people were surveyed, of which 131 had attended cosmetic surgery consultation, and 769 respondents were recruited on our social networks.

Results: Of the 900 respondents, 607 were women and 293 were men. Fifty-nine percent of the surveyed women chose image C (shown in Fig. 3) and similarly, so did 59.4% of surveyed men, which was not statistically significant; however, when considering age, we found the groups of 21-30, 31-40, and 41-50 chose image C at 46%, 65%, and 67%, respectively, whereas 44% of those over 51 years preferred image B, which is statistically significant.

Conclusions: The image whose waist-hip harmony meets the golden ratio (1.61) is most often chosen as "the most beautiful," by both men and women. It is also the preferred image for all age groups under 50.

Fig. 1.

Diagram representing the Mendieta points, which are useful in the body contouring procedure to create a bidimensional perspective of the golden ratio for the patient, by using liposuction in areas with excess volume, and lipotransference to areas that lack gluteal volume.

Fig. 2.

The golden number is the numerical value of the proportion between two line segments A and B (A longer than B), which fulfill the following relationship: the total length, the sum of the two segments A and B, is for the larger segment A, what this segment A is for the smaller B.

Fig. 3.

Images used in the survey, which are digitally modified from a photograph of a model, to show different WHRs: (A) 1.5, (B) 1.55, (C) 1.61 (golden ratio), and (D) 1.68.

Fig. 4.

Graphical representation of the gender distribution by age group, showing clearly that the majority of the surveyed correspond to the female gender with a total of 607, with a greater participation of the group of 31–40 years with a total of 218.

Fig. 5.

Graph illustrating the choice of image C (WHR 1.61) as the most attractive by 58% of the respondents, representing the golden ratio.

Fig. 6.

Graph displaying that the figure preferred by women and men is C (WHR 1.61), amounting to 59.5% and 54.9%, respectively.

Fig. 7.

Graph illustrating that subjects in the groups 21–30, 31–40, and 41–50 years old chose image C (golden ratio) as the most attractive in 46%, 65%, and 67% of cases. respectively; however, for those in the group over 51 years of age, the most attractive image was B (44%). These differences between images preferred by each age group turned out to be statistically significant, as when applying the chi-squared statistic, a P value of 0.001 was obtained.