"Thinner, a bit thinner!" Having a slender figure is the trend for women worldwide. But it was not the case at the beginning of civilization.

When and why did people begin to dislike obesity? How did the slim trend come into being? Here is a view into its past.

To ancient people, the perfect woman is pear-shaped

If there was a time machine, people distressed by obesity would probably want to return to the Stone Age, when the ideal physique of women was round all over. To ancient people, a round woman was incredibly sexy!

The trend can be found by looking statues from that time. One of the most famous statues is the Venus of Willendorf who represents the "Mother Goddess". In ancient times, women were revered for being givers of life. And so, breasts that have felt the affects of breastfeeding were super sexy.

As human beings entered into agricultural civilization, people began to have a stable source of food and fortune, and men began to appreciate beautiful women who weren't obese.

During this time women were confined to housework and they were affiliated to men with social status. Of course they would try to please men and followed their aesthetic criterion.

The statutes from this age depicted thinner women who were well-proportioned.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in China a slender figure was more desirable. There was a poem that said the King of Chu liked slim waists, and thus many officials starved themselves to death.

Also, there was a famous beauty during China's Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD) named Zhao Feiyan, whose slim waist and nimble dances were praised by many poets from that period.

It's widely considered that during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), fat women were popular. But the truth is they were not so fat. Plump trends can be traced in paintings or statutes from this period.

European women also prefer slim waists

In the Middle Ages (5th - 15th centuries) when wars, plagues and natural disasters posed great threats to people's lives, the fat figure became a symbol of fertility and was preferred by men.

But during the Renaissance, it was another case, and men preferred women to be slender with a small waist. Corsets and stays were popular among noble women who tried all means to tighten their waists even if the process damaged their ribs.

Empress Sissi (Elisabeth of Wittelsbach, Princess of Bavaria) was a beautiful representative of women from this period, who kept a good diet and exercised to maintain her slender figure.