don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

On the first day of this month, the media deluged us with stories about the latest national survey proving that the average American body has "sized up." This is no more surprising than if a headline proclaimed "President Bush supports goodness and the American way." Anyway, the big news from the latest survey showed that the population is laden with adipose tissue. "Americans have grown in every way," noted the NY Times on March 1! A national survey, "SizeUSA," sponsored by the clothing and textile industries as well as the Army, Navy and a few universities, drew this conclusion based on measures taken from 10,000 people in 13 cities across the country. A light-pulsing 3-D device scanned 240 different areas of the body, taking detailed measurements on each of the test subjects.

This was a big improvement from the last such survey, done in 1941, when the Agriculture Department (doesn't that seem strange?) sent out researchers with tape measures. The objective then? To size up the population in anticipation of designing military uniforms for World War II.

The basic finding of the new survey is that in 240 different ways, people are fatter today than ever before. That is not exactly a revelation. What IS somewhat interesting is the minutiae regarding some groups being fatter in certain places than other groups. One response to this might be, "Who cares?" Yet, should someone, somewhere care, here are a few group variations revealed by the SizeUSA survey:

• In the thighs department, older men are thinner than younger men; black women are larger than other women.
• Sixty-four percent of all women are pear-shaped; 30 percent are "straight." Straight does not refer to being gay-impaired: It means these women had little perceptible waists.
• Curious about what percent of men are "portly?" No? I wasn't either, but the SizeUSA folks must think someone is. They discovered that 19 percent fit this category. Another 19 percent have "lower front waists." Any idea what that means? I had to have it explained to me. It means they can't see an important body part when they gaze straight down. More delicately put, it means, "they had to look under a belly to find the waist." Well, if you can't see your waist, it doesn't take too much imagination to realize that's not all that's out of sight--which, come to think of it, could be a good thing.
• Who are the top candidates for potbellies? The survey reveals that that would be men over 45 (at least those who are unfit) and women over 36.  
• The purpose of this survey, as you might expect given the sponsors, is to call attention to the issue of clothing sizes based on "average outlines of the American body." It is not true anymore, if it ever were, that the average woman is size eight. That size average only applies to "vanity sizing," giving women a false sense that they are smaller than they really are so they feel better and buy more. Would you like to know what size eight really is in a woman? She would have a 35-inch bust, a 27-inch waist and a 37.5-inch hip. Even women who measured "small" in the SizeUSA survey are by clothing industry standards size 14. In case you are a guy or otherwise did not know this, a size 14 is where the "plus size" clothing begins.
• The average size of young white women in the 18 to 25 year range is 38-32-41; by the time they are in the years 36 to 45, their size is 41-34-43. By comparison, Barbie doll dimensions are 39-18-33. In the 36-45 age group, the ranges for black (43-37-46), Hispanic (42.5-36-44) and mostly Asian women (41-35-43) are generally higher than young white women and Barbie dolls.
• The average male is no longer a regular size 40, either. A regular size 40 would be a 40-inch chest, 34-inch waist, 40-inch hip and a 15.5-inch collar. In the SizeUSA survey, the 18 to 25 year-old male had, on average, a 41-inch chest, 35-inch waist, 41-inch hips and a 16-inch collar. From ages 36 to 45, white men measured 44-38-42; black men at this age were 43-37-42, Hispanic men 44-38-42 and mostly Asian men 42-37-41. 
  

Bottom line here is that the waistline is the first part of the body to expand with sedentary aging. After that, you will notice larger hips, followed by the expansion of 238 additional areas of the body--all because you don't eat right or exercise sufficiently.

If 63 years go by before the next survey, I wonder how Americans will measure up. I suppose that will depend on the extent to which the people come around to realizing how beneficial it is to exercise vigorously on a daily basis and to otherwise practice healthy lifestyles.  The best course of action, I believe, is not to worry so much about what others do but to adopt a wellness approach personally and look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of appearance and aging. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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