How Tiny Is Too Tiny?

by Andrea L. Algar

You've probably seen photos of women who have body features that are just too large or too small for their body frame.

Guinness World Record for 15" Tiny Waist
Photo Credit: HuffPost.com

This one seems extreme and makes one wonder how in the world she can breathe! It's been a lot of years since women routinely wore corsets, which is how the then 61 year old Cathie Jung won the distinction of having the world's smallest waist at a mere 15"! Without the corset, her waist expands a whopping six inches, to a still very small size of 21". She claims that achieving the incredibly small waist "was the result of years of patience, dedication and the constant use of a corset," according to the Huffington Post.

Many women seek cosmetic plastic surgery to reduce the waist and abdomen. Liposuction to remove excess fat and even Abdominoplasty to reduce and flatten the stomach (hence the more common term "Tummy Tuck") are popular cosmetic surgeries performed by plastic surgeons around the world. The term "body contouring" has grown in popularity as it describes the desire by many men and women to perfect their body shape. And, the Brazilian Butt Lift is yet another procedure designed to effectively sculpt the body into a desired shape with small waist and ample buttocks.

The bottom line: The age of the corset may have come and gone, but the desire for a tiny tummy is still very much alive!