Women feel the most confident when they're medically underweight, a short poll recently revealed.
Fitness company FitRated polled more than 1,000 U.S. men and women – who had different perceptions of a healthy weight and the confidence that goes with it.
According to our study, women felt the most body confident when they were underweight, with a body mass index (BMI) under 18.5.
"Women whose BMI ranged from 18.5 to 24.9 rated their body confidence only a 3.4 on our scale of five, while overweight and obese women rated their confidence 2.8 and 2.1, respectively," pointed out FitRated.
The company, however, does not believe in pursuing thinness over health.
"Despite being marketed as beautiful, thinness doesn't necessarily translate to being healthy for everyone. Certain fats can be especially dangerous and hard to detect, and being underweight can produce complications of its own, including reduced immune functions, infertility, and developmental delays."
Meanwhile, men surveyed felt the opposite to women. They were the most comfortable when they were at a healthy weight, and felt almost the same about their bodies whether they were overweight or underweight. In fact, overweight men ultimately rated their confidence nearly the same as women with a healthy BMI.
The poll also found that 31 percent of women's ideal bodies included a thigh gap, while for guys, it was a six pack.
