American Adults Are Fatter Than In 1990 And Happy About It

The bad news is Americans are fatter today than they were in 1990, says a new Gallup poll. But the good news is that the average U.S. citizen isn’t bumming about it, and instead, we’re pretty content with the extra poundage.

The New York Post reports on Gallup’s findings, which say on average, adults are 20 pounds cushier than in 1990, and our ideal weight is 10 pounds higher than it used to be.

Men are around 196 pounds on average, up from 180 pounds 21 years ago, and list their ideal weight at 181. Ideal weight back in 1990 for men was 171.

Women on average are 160 pounds, up from 142 pounds in 1990. The ideal weight for ladies is now 138, instead of 129 pounds.

Even though we seem to be bulking up a bit, only 39% of those polled would call themselves overweight, and 56% say they feel “about right” when it comes to weight.

These numbers might seem a bit odd, as around 1/3 of the United States is classified as obese by government guesses, but researchers have a suggestion as to why we’re all so happy to be fatter:

“The disconnect between the percentage who are over their ideal weight and the percentage who say they are overweight may come from Americans’ own reluctance to describe themselves using such a term.”

So either we’re lying to ourselves, or we’re just content to be you and me, whatever the weight.

Embracing the girth of our nation [New York Post]

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