The Perception of the Ideal Body Contouring in Mexico

BACKGROUND: Over the centuries, our appreciation of beauty has changed, as has the social environment that influences our perspective. Currently we are trying to use measurable instruments to achieve a better aesthetic result in each patient, using as a reference the “golden ratio,” which is found in harmonies of all kinds—in art, nature, architecture, and today, in medicine—to aspire to the ideal proportion. METHODS: We conducted a survey in which we showed participants 4 digitally modified images of a model with different body proportions, 1 with the golden ratio and 3 with other variable proportions. In total, 900 people were surveyed, of which 131 had attended cosmetic surgery consultation, and 769 respondents were recruited on our social networks. RESULTS: Of the 900 respondents, 607 were women and 293 were men. Fifty-nine percent of the surveyed women chose image C (shown in Fig. 3) and similarly, so did 59.4% of surveyed men, which was not statistically significant; however, when considering age, we found the groups of 21–30, 31–40, and 41–50 chose image C at 46%, 65%, and 67%, respectively, whereas 44% of those over 51 years preferred image B, which is statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The image whose waist–hip harmony meets the golden ratio (1.61) is most often chosen as “the most beautiful,” by both men and women. It is also the preferred image for all age groups under 50.