Girl-next-door most appealing to men

As many women strive for the 'perfect' size 8 figure, it appears they may be heading in the wrong direction.

A new study has found that it is 'average' size 14 of the girl-next-door that sets the hearts of the opposite sex racing.Australian researchers showed 100 male students some 200 drawings of female torsos of differing sizes and asked them to rate their attractiveness.

Happily it was the real women that was the best fit for the chaps, rather than top heavy Playboy centrefolds or the skinny models. In fact it was the British size 14 that was found to be the most appealing, reports this week's New Scientist.

Indeed the most attractive shape was a woman of 5ft 4in, 30in waist and 40in hips.

The researchers, from the University of New South Wales, said that celebrities may now be perceived as too thin, though they also added that factors such as bust size may change the result.

Along with recent research in Germany which found that the hourglass figure was the most attractive, it's good news for those that struggle to reach the Kate Moss look.

Elsewhere, researchers have discovered that the type of woman that men find attractive changes with economic climate – with the girlish figure popular during prosperous times and the comfort of a curvy woman more appealing when times get tough.

So, for now at least, it is the Kate Winslet look that sets pulses racing.