The Average American Is Getting Fat

The average American is getting fat. New statistics published recently have found that since the late eighties and early nineties the average American has put on fifteen extra pounds, but hasn’t grown taller.

Even kids are part of this obesity epidemic. Eleven-year-olds are now over seven pounds heavier even as their height stays the same.

When considering race, blacks gained the most pounds on average. Black women put on twenty-two pounds while remaining the same average height. Black men put on eighteen pounds but grew about one-fifth of an inch (which is within the error margin).

Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, says we could do more to control and possibly reverse the obesity epidemic. And at times it seems society encourages it.

The statistics were released today, the third of August in a report of the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The statistics ranging from 2011 to 2014 are made by analyzing a sample of nearly 20,000 people who went through medical exams and answered interview questions at home.

According to this survey, the average weight of males in the United States rose from 181 pounds to 196 pounds between the years 1988 and 1994 and 2011-2014. The height of males staid approximately the same, around 5 feet 9 inches.

At the same time, the average woman increased in size from 152 pounds to 169 pounds, but her height remained similar, at 5 feet, 4 inches.

The shocking growth of the Body Mass Index is an alarm signal for scientists. It can expose people to heart disease, diabetes, and a myriad of other diseases.

A lot of reasons are to blame for the nation’s weight gain. But some of the more obvious ones are the access to an unprecedented level of high-calorie food and the lack of energy consumption to level it.

Another answer lies in the fact that the US population is getting fatter as it ages demographically, and the metabolism of older people is not as active as the young ones’ metabolism.

According to scientists, there’s much to be done, but little is going to be done, as the surrounding culture seems to encourage huge consumption for the sake of greater profits.

What’s your opinion on this sensitive subject? Leave a comment below! Thank you.

Image Source – Wikipedia