The figures are appalling. The average British female is podgier than she was half a century ago and the nation as a whole is fast approaching American levels of obesity, according to a new survey.

Indeed, the only people with cause to rejoice at the findings of the SizeUK study are those with a penchant for page three girls: British women are 4cm (1.5in) bustier than their grandmothers were in 1951, measuring 98cm (38.5in) across the chest.

In fact, they are bigger all round: the average waist measurement has ballooned from 70cm (27.5in)to 86cm (34in). True, women are around 4cm taller, but they have also gained three kilograms since the middle of the last century and now weigh an average of 65kg (10st 2lb).

Women's hips have also expanded proportionately less than their waists, meaning that the hourglass or pear-shaped British female physique is rarer as the top-heavy figure becomes the norm.

Men were measured en masse for the first time in the study, which found that the average British man stands 177cm (70in) tall, weighs 79kg (12st 4lb) and has a waist measurement of 94cm (37in).

A similar study of Americans, called SizeUSA, suggests we may not have finished expanding. The average bust size of American women is 104cm (41in) and their waists are half an inch larger than their British counterparts.

The London College of Fashion, which helped to analyse the measurements of more than 11,000 people, revealed that only half of the male and female population fall into the "normal" range as defined by the body mass index of fat; 38% of women and 44% of men were classified as overweight or obese, and the rest were underweight.

SizeUK, a collaboration between retailers, the Department of Trade and Industry and academics, used a three-dimensional body-scanning system to compile the data. The researchers projected white light in stripes on to the participants from six angles, enabling 130 separate measurements to be calculated for each person.

The findings are likely to prove useful for the clothing industry, the designers of seats for cars, aeroplanes and trains, and scientists working in ergonomics.

Retailers, however, were reluctant to comment on the figures. They will be able to access data on regional variations in sizes, but researchers said they would not be making this information more widely available for fear of some towns and cities being dubbed "fat" areas.

The findings

Ms Average

Weight: 65 kilos now, 62 kilos in 1951

Height: 163cm now, 159cm in 1951

Waist: 86cm now, 70cm in 1951

Chest: 98cm now, 94cm in 1951

Hips: 103cm now, 99cm in 1951.

Mr Average

Weight: 79 kilos

Height: 177cm

Waist: 94cm

Chest: 107cm

Hips: 102cm