Other than our unpredictable weather and President, there are few topics that get more attention this time of the year than body fat. Not mine. Yours.
All the good intentions and dutiful miles of autumn jogging went into the dumpster with last weekend’s consumption of adult beverages and the previous holiday weekend’s meats, potatoes, beans, stuffing, gravy, and the pecan pie of Grandma Jennie, who’d have been crushed if you didn’t thoughtfully take seconds. That’s enough.
Experts at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (obsessed-titled National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) claim that more than half of Americans are either overweight or obese.
So, the folks over at Gallup, the ones who aren’t on vacation or quarantined, have done another survey. And – oh, look! – more than half of Americans self-report that their weight is just about right for their age and build. The overweight national institute is incorrect.
On average, 41 percent of Americans are overweight. Uh-huh.
This means that around 25% of Americans follow the Joe Biden method of truth-telling. They’re not.
We don’t need any phony partisan media fact-checkers to call out those liars. They can use health statistics.
With an estimated 11% prevalence, the 40 million-plus population living with diabetes are increasing each year by 1.5 million. Officially, diabetes is the seventh-highest cause of death, but that’s likely grossly under-reported in favor of heart disease and stroke, which diabetes prompts.
Heart disease, another outgrowth of carrying too much weight, is the leading cause of death on the planet and in the U.S., almost 18 million lives a year globally and one-in-four of the nation’s nearly three million deaths annually.
Gallup might be fooled by you over-optimistic reporting on your weight, but not your body.
Maybe Americans are starting to see the benefits of being more proactive. Gallup statistics show that 41 percent of Americans report being overweight, which is an increase from 36 percent over five years.
After maintaining relatively stable overall weights for the century’s first 15 years, Americans are reporting gained weight in recent years, up an average of five pounds per person.
On average men are four times more beefy at 199 lbs, and women six pounds less at 163. The data was not available for all genders.
This century has seen a slight increase in the proportion of Americans who want to lose weight.
About 55 percent of all adults say they’d like to shed some pounds in the most recent five-year span. That’s up slightly from the 52 percent in the previous five years, but still under the 60 percent who professed that wish right after 2000.
Are you one of those people who wants to shed weight?
Okay, it was just a joke. Of course, women. Six out of ten. Only half the men agree. These numbers are stable through the second millennium.
Here’s where hypocrisy strikes the road. Although more than half (56%) of Americans would love to lose weight, only 26 percent of those who do claim that they are actually doing so have any concrete plans.
And once again, women exceed men, saying they are actually doing something to lose weight – 29 percent vs lazier men at 23 percent. Us guys will get right down to the weight-loss thingie for sure immediately after football’s over.
Or by spring. You still have plenty of time before Speedo season.
About Post Author
