I grew up in Vietnam. There were similar positive attitudes towards overweight bodies. The country was ravaged by wars and famines. Overweight bodies mean prosperity. It's changing now in Vietnam, however. They're converging to views of other countries.<p>One thing to note is the way people acquiring body fat was somewhat different. They don't consume sugar and highly processed food. They eat a lot of normal foods. They have body fat but often strong and muscular.
The cultural concept of being slightly overweight as a sign of wealth and prosperity is seen in other regions:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leblouh" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leblouh</a><p><a href="https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a3513/forcefeeding-in-mauritania/" rel="nofollow">https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a3513/forcefeeding...</a>
This is anecdotal but I recall reading some science somewhere to back it up. During a fast or if I am cutting weight heavier women become more attractive to me.
Malayali (Kerala, India) culture has the common developing world fatness = prosperity mentality to some degree (minus the Indian love toward asceticism), but we have the added factor of having the defining movie star of my parents generation (And pretty big star still) being a rather pudgy guy (Mohanlal!) and that does shape people’s views on things.<p>It’s a funny interplay with stars that they shape their appearance to fit societal expectations but at the same time shape them.
A friend of mine whose parents immigrated from Poland before WWII told me that in the old country fat women were valued as wives because their weight was seen as proof they didn't have tuberculosis.
It seems that in Polynesia, South Pacific and traditional Hawaii, the leaders in society were ideally fat and massive. My guess is that these were the people who were better suited to survival on long voyages across the Pacific.
I'm guessing the positive associations with weight for women is due to promoting fertility. If a woman is too thin, she can't conceive. You have to have some extra calories to have a baby.<p>The American obsession with thinness means that some women can "cure" their fertility problems by gaining five pounds.