Study: Happiness Is a Size 14

According to a new study by cereal brand Special K, women who wear a British size 14 (US equivalent size 12) are the happiest with their life and looks.

Girls who wear the dress size rated their general happiness higher than any other with a quarter saying they were extremely happy.

More than 43 per cent of size 14 women also said they were as happy as they could be with their career, while almost a third say they couldn't be more content with their love life.

Second happiest, according to the research by Special K, are size 12 women, with almost three quarters saying they are completely satisfied with their friendships.

Forty-five per cent also enjoy a very successful career.

That said, of the 3,000 women surveyed, 48% across the board said that they weren't happy with their weight.

Keep reading...

Comments

[prettybrowneyes]

12:23 AM on 01/06/2009

I, personally­, think that beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes, but it has to start within. At a size 20, I was unhappy inside; therefore, it transcende­d to my outside, as well.

[prettybrowneyes]

12:20 AM on 01/06/2009

I am a 40 year old black female and I am a size 8. When I was younger, age 26 year and younger, I always swore that I would never be get any larger than a size 4/5. After becoming a mother @ 26, years old, I went from a size 4/5 to a size 10, and I was devasted. From the age of 26 to 37 I grew from a size 10 to a 20 and I spent all of those years very miserably. At forty years old, and at a size 8, my husband thinks that I am the sexiest woman alive (he has never been attracted to large women, but loved me so much, he never complained about my serious weight gain), my 14 year old daughter loves showing me off to all of her friends, (at a size 20 she was so ashamed of me, but never told me, but worked out with me so hard that it motivated me to get the extra weight off. She told me that she was embarrasse­d of me only after I lost all of the weight), and I feel that I am more beautiful than I have ever been in my life. I am so proud of my weight loss and I consider myself a CERTIFIED DIVA. I personally feel that if someone is physically and emotionall­y fit, then happiness and confidence is evident.

[tasukibeth1]

06:35 PM on 01/04/2009

The girl in that picture is not a size 12, she's closer to a 16.

[carrieanna]

09:03 PM on 01/03/2009

If we still wore handmade clothes, we wouldn't get caught up in this false ideals of ready-to-w­ear clothing sizes. Everyone has a different body type and fits into clothes differentl­y.

[mellene]

04:31 PM on 01/02/2009

I haven't run into too many women who want to be a size 14. If they are heavier they would usually rather be slimmer if given a choice.

[JRN]

07:59 AM on 01/01/2009

The woman in the photo accompanyi­ng this article is NOT a size 12, I don't care how tall she is. Seriously, I am about a size 10 at 5'1" (ten pounds above my "healthy weight" limit, after having my second child), am struggling to lose those extra pounds and maintain a healthy self-image­. . . this photo is offensive. I do NOT look anything like that. People should not think that's what a size 10/12 is or is perceived as being. I expect more from Huffington Post.

[phinney]

11:49 PM on 01/01/2009

You read my mind. No way is that girl a size 12. I think that photo is of a British singer, who is quite short.

I, too am a size 12, but after having 4 children I decided to stop beating myself up, I'm not doing so bad at my current size.

[cyranorox]

11:48 AM on 01/04/2009

Yes, it's offensive, but not for the reasons you imply. She is fatter than you claim to be. She is a fat person presented as an object of ridicule and contempt. You seem to participat­e in that - *you're* not like *her*.
Huffpost, you are at fault. Can you never present a picture of a fat person in a pose, angle, dress and expression that does not intend disgust and invite contempt?

[booker52]

09:12 PM on 12/31/2008

Guess I am a happy camper being a size12. When I was much younger I was a size 7 and when I was way younger I was a size 2. Gee time flys when you gain weight and get older!!! Too funny. I say from what I see while I am out and about most women are generally in the above size 10 range. The ones falling under that are most likely young or really really old!!! Just saying.

[Culturemaven]

03:05 PM on 12/31/2008

The most disturbing statistic is that 48% of these women say they are not happy. Wow.

[DawnK]

05:51 PM on 01/02/2009

Are you really surprised? I don't think I know any woman who is 100% happy with their bodies. I know I always feel I can be more in shape.

[CaveatLector]

12:00 PM on 12/31/2008

I have a couple of thoughts..­.first of all, Marilyn Monroe was no size 12, even 10. I attended an auction of her clothes and other items at Christy's a couple of years ago and got to see up close the dress she wore when she sang "Happy Birthday" to JFK...it was easily a size 2, by today's standards.

My daughter loves vintage clothes and she wears a size 10 in clothes from the 1950's...a­nd she is 5 foot 4 inches tall and about 100 pounds. Clothing manufactur­ers have changed and adapted the way they size their wares to accomodate the growing American and European waistlines­. (This is also evident among different clothing store chains...a size 6 at Ann Talbots is like a size 10 at Walmart...­.because wealthier women don't want to be reminded of their real size.)

That picture looks like Beth Ditto. She is still a young woman, so health problems haven't started for her yet...but I'd love to see her in 30 years if she continues on the path she is on..(I've read intervews with her and she basically eats anything she wants and doesn't care about her the quality of the food or nutrition.­) You can say what you want about self acceptance and nurturing the body you have, but the fact is that diseases like diabetes are on an epidemic rise.

[Culturemaven]

03:13 PM on 12/31/2008

You are completely right on all your points. Of course, that dress Miss Monroe wore to sing to JFK was probably sewn onto her body (she couldn't even wear undergarme­nts, it was so tight). But, yes, the woman was not what we think of as a size 12.
I've purchased vintage fashions and European clothing and the sizes are quite different from what is available in American stores.

People are getting larger and unhealthie­r. Have you ever seen a comparison between a "fast food" meal from the 70s and what is offered today? The hamburger and fries and soda from back in the 70s is the size of a kid's meal today. The portions today are huge. I'm saddened to see young people looking so large when they should be in the prime of health.

[TrueIndy08]

09:29 PM on 12/30/2008

I would be so depressed if I ever wore a size 12.... I am a size 3 and delighted about it....

I got up to a 5 when I was pregnant and went right back down.... thin is in

[emmapeel]

08:03 AM on 12/31/2008

Well, it depends on your height. I'm a size 12 - tall & slim, if I were a 3 I'd be anorexic.

[Tatiana]

11:15 AM on 01/03/2009

short and petite here.

[CaveatLector]

12:02 PM on 12/31/2008

I'm guessing you are under forty years old. Save the big depression for real life tragedy...­cancer, car accidents, loss of jobs, etc. You have a lot to learn, unfortunat­ely...

[Tatiana]

05:42 PM on 01/02/2009

I'm over 40 and a size 3.

I have nothing left to learn, sweetie darlin'

[johnnygoodwud]

08:14 PM on 12/30/2008

if that woman is a size 14, sorry i'll stick with the '5 chinese boys'.

[QueenOfViolets]

07:11 PM on 12/30/2008

I can't feel right in my body unless I'm size eight. Luckily, I can stay there if I eat right and exercise.

[andj]

06:48 PM on 12/30/2008

Then Keloggs should stop trying to sell us that horrible product they call a cereal.

It also contains too much sugar and salt to be healthy.

I always try and buy cereals that dont use filler and cheaper products like sugar.

[CaveatLector]

12:03 PM on 12/31/2008

Great comment. I'm sick and tired of cereal manufactur­ers pushing this false notion of healthy eating on the consumer. Read the ingredient­s in a box of Special K...you'll need a chemical dictionary­...

[Sapphdia]

02:43 PM on 12/30/2008

I think that is Beth Ditto. I love her unapologet­ic outlook and confidence­!

[Topfeeder]

05:28 PM on 01/03/2009

Yep, it's Beth.

[djwfutbol]

01:28 PM on 12/30/2008

Wait a minute. Sorry to rain on the parade but I looked a little closer at the article and the statistics aren't that dramatic. 3000 was the total population of women surveyed, who were anything from size 6 to 24. Let's assume for a moment that it was evenly distribute­d and that only even sizes were measured (that's all I saw in the article). So, 10 sizes means 300 people per size. Therefore, if some 43% of size 14 are happy as they can be in their careers, for example. In other words, about 120 people. Not exactly strong evidence of a correlatio­n between size and happiness (career or otherwise)­.

That's the trouble with statistics­, to paraphrase Mark Twain.

[QueenOfViolets]

07:18 PM on 12/30/2008

And it's kind of superficia­l to just ask people if they're happy. Some people will claim to be happy out of defiance even if their lives are a complete shambles.

For example, women in the UK drink a lot of beer. I can imagine that someone who's a size 14 because she drinks a few pints every night might just say she's happy with her beer bloat out of the defiance that comes with alcohol.

So how do the researcher­s know when they're measuring real happiness and when they're measuring bloated alcoholic defiance?

How does one measure happiness scientific­ally? How does one separate it from the things people call happiness when they're really unhappy?

[CaveatLector]

12:04 PM on 12/31/2008

I agree...pe­rfect example of a study designed soley for the purposes of attracting readers to whatever venue it's published in. This is what they call 'junk science.'