Posted on 06/15/2015 9:19:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I read the headline over at the Washington Post (via Newsalert) and I can’t say I was surprised:
The average American woman weighs 166.2 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As reddit recently pointed out, that’s almost exactly as much as the average American man weighed in the early 1960s.
Men, you’re not looking too hot in this scenario either. Over the same time period you gained nearly 30 pounds, from 166.3 in the 60s to 195.5 today. Doing the same comparison as above, today’s American man weighs almost as much as 1.5 American women from the 1960s. At 195.5 pounds, put five American guys in a room and you’ve gathered roughly half a ton of manhood.
Overall weight gain since 1960 is slightly greater for women (18.5 percent) than for men (17.6 percent). And both sexes have gained roughly an inch in height over the same period, which accounts for some of that weight gain.
Maybe the weight is seen as unsightly by some, but on average, those who are overweight but not obese might be healthier. I imagine it matters how much one weighs in proportion to height and if the person is active and healthy vs. overweight and sedentary. I must admit that at five foot six, if I weighed 166, I would be a mess. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I can’t carry that kind of weight but some women can.
Also read:
I don’t believe it
I do. Just walk down the street and look at how fat America has become. Its terrible
Wow! I weighed less than that when I got out of high school.
“Wow! I weighed less than that when I got out of high school.”
Me too. However I have gained weight each year and I am now past the average.
I remember touring some colonial homes and looking at the beds and the clothes, etc. back when I was a boy. I was astounded at the smallness of what I saw. I’m wondering if the average size of Americans has grown overall.
You can thank the govt’s food pyramid for the expanding American.
Feeding high calorie carbs to activity restricted individuals is how we used to fatten beef cows. And it works every time.
I don’t know.
I think Americans are taller than they were in the sixties. Women over six feet tall used to stand out. They don’t now.
I don’t think people can be taller without weighing more.
“I don’t believe it”
I do believe it.
Much of the additional 30 pounds is amyloid plaque and sawdust in the brain pan. There is no other explanation for two Bushes, a Clinton, and an Obama as President, with yet another Bush and another Clinton being serious contenders for the Presidency.
Thank lack of personal self-control and super-sized meals and drinks.
The feminists will shriek at you over "fat shaming".
166 lbs is how much a man 5 feet 11 should weigh to be healthy. For the average woman about 5 feet 5 that’s about 40 lbs overweight. Sorry.
Spend a half hour in Wal-Mart some day and it will make a believer out of you.
It's an outcome of eating too many calories.
LOL!!!! Me too!!!!
It’s because of “fast food” and more spare time.
Maybe we should all start smoking again. It would help with the weight.
So what.
I blame the fatness of Americans on antibiotics. Farmers have been giving antibiotics to meat animals for about 50 years, knowing that it would make them bigger and fatter. Now, it’s messed up out gut flora and we get big for the same reason.
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