Flat abdominals and six-packs have gained more publicity in the past one year than in decades. Women are now obsessed with acquiring and maintaining a flat stomach and men, are now socially compelled to lose weight.

Women tend to be fighting an uphill battle. Their genetic make up with the propensity to accumulate fats and retain water in unsightly areas are odds stacked heavily against their them.

Men, usually endowed with a higher metabolic rate, on the other hand, might be considered luckier. But due to lack of exercise, unhealthy eating habits and the slowing down of metabolic rate as age increases, men tend to put on bulk after they start working.

Most fashion trends are unfair towards the heavier end of our population. But this obsession with tanned complexion and flat abdominals might be the healthiest trend yet.