I think there is a lot of confusion for guys, and sometimes girls too, what a size 16 means, I know when I was a size 10 I had size 16 in my head as "elephant, jerry springer fat rolls everywhere , needs two bus seats" but then my weight crept up from size 10 to size 14/16, and i KNOW I am no where near that size I had in my head.
Hey don't get me wrong I know im not "slim" i have a fair bit to grab onto, I just feel when the number 16 is written down peopel get this false image of a whale!
Size 16 is about 5-6" larger than a size 10, all the way around, so about half a handspan on each side of you!
my measurements are something like 42-36-40
I think the delusion comes from people who are about a size 30 telling people they are an 18!
So i do believe the average size is around 16, as i see a lot of people a lot bigger than me and a lot of people quite a bit smaller, and when i see people bigger than me, it isn't by an inch or two, it is as in about 2-3x the size, meaning they push that average up, as if someone was a 1/3rd the size of me they would have a waist of 12" and be dead(or very close!)
I'd ideally like to be a size 12, i'm 5'8 and when I was size 10 felt like I was a bit overbalanced (my boobs are 34FF lol)