Dear Grandparenting: I remember when my granddaughters began worrying out loud about their weight. They were still in grade school. It struck me as odd for ones so young.

Toni was so skinny at 14 that I asked if she had an eating disorder. I think she took that as a compliment because she broke out into a big smile. Martina was even skinnier, if that’s possible. She didn’t eat regular meals. She was big on “grazing,” where you eat small portions all day long.

All that changed sometime in 2017. The girls started eating things like doughnuts and Fritos. After Martina learned how to bake, she got real good at making sugary cakes. Guess what? They both started to fill out.

That’s getting out of hand, too. They went from filling out to pleasingly plumb to flat out fat, in my opinion. My granddaughters are somehow convinced that males prefer fuller-figured females in hard times.

I know about hard times but this fuller-figured stuff is a new one. Is there anything to it, or is this just another fad my granddaughters are going through? Minny Joseph, Salisbury, Maryland

Dear Minny: The humorous vein in your delightfully offbeat letter masks a weighty problem that can become a ticking time bomb for hefty grandchildren, setting them up for a host of dangerous medical issues. (While we’re at it, skip that sugar, and exercise caution during dramatic weight makeovers.)

Your question has actually been a topic of some interest among social scientists and scholars since the Great Depression that began in 1928. And while there is no unanimity of opinion, there is some support for your granddaughters’ theory.

According to Dr. Leif Nelson of New York University, a “resource scarcity” of cash and food drives men to judge fuller-figured females as more attractive, since they presumably have access to money and meals.

Researcher Terry Pettijohn II takes a slightly different approach. In his “environmental security” hypothesis, men gravitate toward heavier women they regard as mature and protective during hard times.

GRAND REMARK OF THE WEEK

Joey Peterson, from Fishkill, New York, bought wife Mary a customized T-shirt that reads “Who Needs A Fairy Godmother When They Have A Grandma?”