Obesity is defined as body weight of 15 percent or more above the ideal for one's height a
nd age.【C1】______ this criterion, about one third of the adult population of the United States is obese. The【C2】______ of obesity vary in different races, cultures, sub-cultures, and social classes. In industrialized countries, fatness tends to be【C3】______ correlated with socioeconomic status: people in lower social classes tend to be more obese. In economically backward nations, the direction of the correlation is reversed; the richer, the fatter. The situation in the underdeveloped world probably approximates the【C4】______ of affairs through most of human evolution. Particularly for women,【C5】______ pregnancies could 【C6】______ into times of scarcity, larger internal food【C7】______ were adapted in the face of variable external reserves.
Although obesity may sound like a (n)【C8】______ phenomenon, it is to some degree【C9】______ relative. A study of black and white undergraduates yielded【C10】______ results. Even though blacks, and especially black females, were heavier than whites, they were more satisfied with their weight and less likely to find weight in other people【C11】______ Men were more concerned【C12】______the weight of their dates than women were, but black men were【C13】______ likely to refuse to date a woman because of her weight.
Contemporary North American culture is【C14】______ with thinness, particularly for women. Compared to the Rubenesque view of beauty of just a few centuries ago, the prototypes of feminine beauty【C15】______ in the mass media today look emaciated, that is, extremely thin. The standards have even changed【C16】______ since the 1950s, when the prototype was replete with large breasts and slightly protruding abdomen. A study of Playboy centerfolds found a ten percent decrease in the ratio of weight to height from the late 1950s to the late 1970s,【C17】______ by a dramatic increase in the number of articles on dieting in popular women's magazines. In【C18】______ to contemporary Western societies, some other cultures【C19】______ beauty with bulk. This most often occurs in societies in which food is scarce,【C20】______ women who are healthy and have more resources tend to be heavier and hence are seen as more attractive.
【C1】
A.With
B.In
C.By
D.Through