Want a shock?
Or maybe just a surprise?
Well, you might not be surprised at all to discover that Americans — actually North Americans, but we can’t blame this on the Mexicans — are the fattest people in the world.
Not including children, counting only adults 20 and older, the average American man weighs 198 pounds. That’s bad enough, but the average American adult woman weighs 170 pounds. I’m pretty sure it was the 1980s before I even knew any women who weighed that much.
We’ve gotten bigger. In the 1960s, men averaged 166 pounds and women averaged 140.
Think about that for a moment. If you’re mathematically challenged, that means both men and women are roughly 20 percent heavier than in the 1960s. Project that out and by 2075-80, men will top 240 and women will come in around 205.
Pretty horrible, huh?
FYI: In the 1960s, most NFL players weighed less than 240 pounds. Several members of great offensive lines for multiple champion Green Bay weighed only 210-220 pounds.
I discovered the information about how huge people are getting because I’ve found myself fitting into smaller and smaller pants sizes as my weight continues to drop, and I remember that 35-40 years ago, the average waist size for American adults was 34 inches.
So I wondered what it was now, and I was stunned to see it’s 40.2 inches.
Strangely enough, that doesn’t mean that pants with a 40-inch waist are particularly hue (no pun intended) sellers. The most popular is 34, followed by 36. There are a couple of reasons for that.
First, many men let their bellies hang out over the top of their pants, and second, many of the makers of cheaper pants fudge the sizes. A 34 might actually be 36 or 37. This enables fat guys to feel less fat.
If you wonder how all this happened — the fatter people, not the pants sizes — look at what people are eating these days. First off, the amount of sugar in our diet increases every year, and second, the number of meals eaten at restaurants is horribly high.
If portions weren’t too large already, look at how many restaurants feature all-you-can-eat buffets.
Part of it is just competition. How can a restaurant stand out from its competitors? Aside from having better food?
Simple. Bigger portions.
The late comedian John Pinette did some hilarious bits about buffets, particularly ones at Chinese restaurants.
His signature line from his standup act was the proprietor of a Chinese buffet saying angrily, “You go now.”
A very funny guy, but if you look at him, you’re probably not all that surprised that he died at age 50.
In fact, numerous obese stars are no longer with us, from John Candy to Chris Farley. I hate to have to say it, but it’s stunning how many fat stars — movies, TV and other pursuits — there are now compared to the 1960s.
Not a size 34 waist among them.
Sorry to sound obsessive about the waist size, but eight months ago I was wearing pants that were a 44 waist. That’s the largest size I’ve ever worn. At the other end is the size I wore when I weighed 160 pounds in my mid 30s. I actually made it down to a 30 waist, a size I’ll never see again.
I’m actually pleasantly surprised that after losing 84 pounds and weighing 186, I can wear 34s. Real 34s, too. Not cheap stuff from Walmart or Old Navy, but Tommy Bahama slacks.
I still look horrible without pants. I’ve got what the late Lewis Grizzard called the two-bellies and that unwanted second belly is in a place nearly impossible to exercise away.
But my Body Mass Index (BMI) has gone down from 41.0 (morbidly obese) to 28.3 (just overweight)) in eight months. I would have to lose another 22 pounds to not be overweight at all, and that might be an unrealistic hope.
I do have one more goal that’s possibly reachable.
I have three pairs of expensive slacks that I bought when I was working in St. Louis.
In 1985.
They’re as old as my son and the last time I could wear them was after getting my weight down to 168.
In 2010.
What waist size are they?
They’re 33s, purchased in the men’s department at Famous-Barr.
33s.
How about that.