The most typical of Buddha statues are thin. They're based on Siddhartha Gautama, a prince who gave up all worldly possessions when he left his castle for the first time as a young man and saw the suffering outside of it. He believed in fasting as a means to enlightenment.... I'm not an expert, but if you type Mandalay and Buddhas, you'll see the statues they worship are the thin version, not the fat happy Chinese ones. My conclusion? I don't know why the women rubbed on her... Maybe she thought she could heal her truly sick fat body. As far as watching them rub buddy bellies for luck though, imma have to say this authors full of shit.