HEFNER WATCH: This headline says this study is proving that Playmates are becoming more androgynous over time, but I'm not sure that's what this study is saying:

Reporting in the December 23/28 issue of the British Medical Journal, Voracek and co-author Maryanne L. Fisher of York University in Toronto, Canada, painstakingly evaluated body measurements of 577 consecutive Playboy centerfold models from 1953 to 2001.

From weight, height, bust, hip and waist measurements, Voracek and Fisher calculated body mass index and waist:hip, waist:bust, and bust:hip ratios, the study indicates.

While previous research on the bodies of female centerfold models suggests that "optimums reflect evolved optimal design and thus should not be subject to temporal change," the new research refutes this notion.

"It appears that female bodily attractiveness cues are subject to change over time," Voracek told Reuters Health in an interview.

"More precisely, our data suggest that Playboy centerfolds' typical body mass index has further descended below corresponding population levels, whereas their typical waist-to-hip ratio now approaches corresponding population levels--that of 20-plus year-old females.

"The maximally sexually attractive female body shape seems not to be stable over time," Voracek adds.

Via Hit & Run. The only thing this study seems to prove is Voracek's last comment above.