In Seventeen, Teen People, CosmoGirl! and Teen Vogue, bathing suit sections are partly illustrated by photos of less-than-perfect figures and tips on maximizing assets and minimizing defects.

Editors say they are using more average women and fewer models to reflect ''changing body types'' and to help self-conscious teens see that not everyone is perfect.

''It's not going to help my reader if we only show girls who are size 6's,'' said Atoosa Rubenstein, editor of Seventeen magazine. ''Everyone is beautiful; it's just a matter of confidence, and we try to show that.''

Teen People recently featured a story about Brittany Harper, a plus-size 20-year-old who has competed in and won several beauty pageants against average-size girls in North Carolina and currently holds the USA Eastern Miss title. Harper, from Goldsboro, N.C., said she is pleased to see more overweight women in magazines.

''I think maybe seeing someone like me in a magazine makes you realize that you don't have to be skinny to be pretty,'' she said. ''People see skinny girls in magazines and they think that's what normal is, when it's not the case.''

Harper said she started entering the pageants because she was shy and self-conscious, but now she's happy with her body.

In May 2004, Glamour Magazine broke a barrier of sorts by putting the sizable Queen Latifah on the cover. It outsold the May 2003 cover, which featured svelte actresses Halle Berry and Rebecca Romijn.

Dove recently started an ad campaign featuring ''real'' women - ranging from size 6 to 14 - that shows them wearing only bras, panties and big smiles on billboards, bus stops and trains in Chicago, New York and other cities. The ads are designed to sell products from Dove's firming collection - lotions and creams meant to reduce the appearance of cellulite.

Rubenstein, who joined Seventeen two years ago after launching CosmoGirl!, said her priority has been to reflect the population. She said most of the girls in the style and beauty sections are not models, and variety helps illustrate cosmetics for different body and skin types. The magazine shows five skin tones now to reflect different ethnic groups.

''If you were a South Asian girl, you would have thought you didn't exist in this country if you looked at magazines,'' Rubenstein said. ''Indian girls, girls from all over were just being neglected.''

Seventeen's casting director chooses girls in malls, on the street, and anywhere she can find them for beauty and fitness sections. The magazine has increased newsstand sales by 17 percent in the past two years.

''It doesn't make good business sense to stay the same,'' Rubenstein said. ''Girls today have so many different role models, they wouldn't stand for it if they only saw the same thing every time they looked at Seventeen.''