TurinIt was common in more ancient times of human development, that larger women/higher body fat was more desirable. Just look at old greek statues. Because food is much more prevalent now, fat stores are no longer a sign of fitness (evolutionary fitness, not gym) because there is no need to store in case of a starvation period.
This has changed our view to that skinny is more attractive, because there are less health problems involved. In the past, those health problems were worth it, as they was better than starvation.
an attractive body fat level is 12~15%, not >20%