This is an outline of a thought that I've had for a while of one reason that being super skinny is so attractive in modern society. Often people refer back to renaissance painings of evidence when larger, curvier women were considered the standard of attractive. This is compared to the unhealthy level of skinny that is currently portrayed as the most attractive. The key difference in these situations is the level of available food and the reliablility of this food which brings up the thrifty gene (makes individuals better able to store fat in case of a famine). When there is less food those with the thrifty gene survive and pass on their traits. In modern society when there is far more food available than is healthy the thrifty gene predisposes people to obesity and diabetes. Some modern cultures have lost this gene primarily such as nothern europeans who under went their last famine a long time ago. As a population they can eat a lot of fatty food and not suffer as many consequences. Pacific islanders on the other hand experienced famine much more recently and correspondingly have the highest rates of diabetes (around 30%). The current shift towards extra skinny could be a way to weed out the thrifty gene in the population. Just as russian officers padded their coats to look fatter (a sign of having money and ability to provide enought food and therefore more attractive) being skinny signfies an adaption to better handle a high caloric diet while maintaining a slim figure. Similar to the russian officers it is also a way of showing that they are comfortable enough in their source of food that they can take the risk of being skinny because the next meal is guranteed. This info is based on a lecture about why doctors need darwin and looking at how evolution informs medicine. I know some of these ideas have been kicking around since I'm not that creative to come up with it entirely but I thought that I'd try to outline my perspective. Have other people heard or thought the same things? How might this inform the current eating problems on both sides of the spectrum (obesity or anorexia)?