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Battle of the Bulge: Majority of Americans Want to Lose Weight

Battle of the Bulge: Majority of Americans Want to Lose Weight

by and Joseph Carroll

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Many Americans will be loosening their belts for this year's Thanksgiving feast and may put on a few extra pounds, but a recent Â鶹´«Ã½AV Poll finds a substantial number of Americans -- more than four in 10 -- already describe themselves as overweight. What's more, an even higher percentage, six in 10, say they would like to lose weight, and about the same number report that they currently weigh more than their self-identified "ideal" weight. Still, only one in four Americans are actively taking steps to reduce, a number that is remarkably similar to what Â鶹´«Ã½AV polling found 51 years ago.

More Than 4 in 10 Americans Currently Report Being Overweight

The Nov. 11-14 Â鶹´«Ã½AV Poll asked respondents to describe their personal weight situation. A slight majority of Americans, 51%, say their weight is about right, while 42% say they are overweight, and 6% say underweight. Â鶹´«Ã½AV has found similar results on this measure over the past three years. In 1990, the percentage of Americans who described themselves as overweight was slightly higher, at 48%.

Personal Weight Situation Right Now

In recent years, medical authorities have increasingly documented the relationship between people's weight and their overall physical health, pointing to evidence that obesity is correlated with increased chances of heart trouble, cancer, and diabetes.

The recent survey documents this relationship, based on Americans' description of their health on the one hand and their description of their weight on the other. By a 21% to 45% margin, overweight respondents were about half as likely as others to describe their physical health as "excellent."

Roughly 6 in 10 Americans Weigh More Than Their Ideal Weight

Americans are apparently more reluctant to use the label "overweight" to describe their situation than they are to admit that they need to lose a few pounds. As noted above, just 42% characterize themselves as overweight, but in the same survey, about six in 10 respondents say that their ideal weight is lower than their current weight, and about the same number say they would like to lose weight.

According to respondents' self-reports of their current weight and their stated ideal weight, 63% of Americans weigh more than their ideal, by an average of 16 pounds. Roughly one in four adults (23%) weighs up to 10 pounds more than their ideal weight. An additional 14% weigh between 11 and 20 pounds more, 9% weigh between 21 and 30 pounds more, and 16% weigh more than 30 pounds above their ideal weight.

What is your approximate current weight?

What do you think is the ideal body weight for you, personally?

2002 Nov 11-14

National Adults

Men

Women

%

%

%

Under ideal Weight

13

16

10

More than 20 lbs.

(2)

(3)

(1)

11-20 lbs.

(4)

(5)

(3)

6-10 lbs.

(3)

(4)

(2)

1-5 lbs.

(4)

(4)

(4)

At ideal weight

18

23

14

Over ideal Weight

63

59

66

1-5 lbs.

(11)

(12)

(11)

6-10 lbs.

(12)

(10)

(13)

11-20 lbs.

(14)

(13)

(16)

21-30 lbs.

(9)

(10)

(8)

31-50 lbs.

(8)

(8)

(9)

More than 50 lbs.

(8)

(6)

(9)

Undesignated

6

2

9

Mean

+15.5

+12.4

+18.6

Median

+10.0

+5.0

+10.0

Women are slightly more likely than men to report their actual weight as higher than their ideal weight. Two-thirds of women, compared with just about six in 10 men, weigh more than their ideal weight.

The average man in America weighs about 12 pounds more than he thinks he should, while the average woman weighs 19 pounds more than she thinks she should.

These findings comparing ideal to actual weight are underscored by the responses to a basic question that asks Americans whether they would like to gain weight, stay the same, or lose weight. Only about a third of the nation's adults are content with their current weight. Nearly six in 10 Americans, 58%, want to lose weight, and just about one in 10 want to gain weight.

Â鶹´«Ã½AV's latest findings provide a stark contrast to the situation 51 years ago, when Â鶹´«Ã½AV first asked Americans to comment on their weight. At that time, in 1951, half of those surveyed wanted to maintain their current weight, while only 31% wanted to lose weight and 17% wanted to gain weight.

In short, the percentage of Americans who feel they should lose weight has essentially doubled over the last half-century, from 31% to 58%, most likely due to the significantly increased focus in American society on weight (from both an appearance and health standpoint) and perhaps due to the fact that Americans are in reality more overweight today than they were in past decades (as many medical authorities have shown).

Lose Weight, Gain Weight, or
Maintain Current Weight?
Nov 11-14, 2002

Women have historically been more inclined than men to say they want to lose weight. The current poll finds that 66% of women, compared with 49% of men, want to lose weight. Even when this question was first asked in 1951, twice as many women as men admitted that they wanted to lose weight, by a 44% to 21% margin.

Men Versus Women:
Percent Who Want to "Lose Weight"

Few Americans Actually Trying to Lose Weight Today

In general, there is a great divide between what Americans think they should be doing in regard to their weight and what they actually report doing. Although a majority of Americans want to lose weight, only one-quarter of adults are "seriously trying to lose weight" right now. Â鶹´«Ã½AV has found only slight variation on this measure over the past five decades.

Desire to Lose Weight Versus
"Seriously Trying to Lose Weight" Right Now

Here is a look at the relationship between those who identify themselves as overweight on the one hand and those who want to lose weight on the other. Note that over a third of those who think their weight is about right still say that they would like to lose weight:

Overweight

About Right

Underweight

Want to lose weight

92%

36

9

Want to stay at present weight

7%

57

37

Want to gain weight

1%

7

54

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,001 adults, 18 years and older, conducted November 11-14, 2002. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

How would you describe your own personal weight situation right now -- very overweight, somewhat overweight, about right, somewhat underweight, or very underweight?

Very
over-
weight

Somewhat over-
weight


About
right

Somewhat under-weight

Very
under-weight


No
opinion

%

%

%

%

%

%

2002 Nov 11-14

6

36

51

5

1

1

2002 Jul 9-11

6

34

55

5

*

*

2001 Nov 8-11

6

38

51

4

*

1

2001 Jul 19-22

5

41

49

5

*

*

1999 Jul 22-25

4

35

53

6

1

1

1990 Oct 11-14

7

41

46

5

1

*

What is your approximate current weight?


124 lbs. or less


125-149 lbs.


150-174 lbs.


175-199 lbs.

200 lbs. and over


No opinion


Average weight

%

%

%

%

%

%

Lbs.

National Adults

2002 Nov 11-14

9

22

22

18

25

4

173

2001 Nov 8-11

8

20

24

22

22

4

171

2001 Jul 19-22

8

19

26

20

22

5

173

1999 Jul 22-25

11

19

25

20

20

4

170

1990 Oct 11-14

12

27

27

16

15

3

161

Men

2002 Nov 11-14

1

8

25

24

41

1

193

2001 Nov 8-11

1

8

22

33

35

1

189

2001 Jul 19-22

3

8

26

28

34

1

188

1999 Jul 22-25

1

6

27

31

33

2

190

1990 Oct 11-14

2

11

35

27

25

*

180

Women

2002 Nov 11-14

15

35

21

12

10

7

153

2001 Nov 8-11

15

31

26

11

11

6

153

2001 Jul 19-22

13

29

26

12

12

8

158

1999 Jul 22-25

20

32

24

9

8

7

150

1990 Oct 11-14

21

42

20

7

5

5

142

Would you like to [ROTATED: lose weight, stay at your present weight, or put on weight]?

Lose weight

Put on weight

Stay at present

No opinion

%

%

%

%

National Adults

2002 Nov 11-14

58

8

34

*

2001 Jul 19-22

59

7

34

*

1999 Jul 22-25

52

9

39

*

1996 Feb 23-25

55

4

41

*

1990 Oct 11-14

52

7

40

1

1957 Aug 29-Sep 4

35

11

49

5

1955 Jun 24-29

37

13

48

2

1954 Jul 2-7

35

14

50

1

1953 Feb 1-5

37

13

49

1

1951

31

17

50

2

Men

2002 Nov 11-14

49

11

40

*

2001 Jul 19-22

49

12

39

0

1999 Jul 22-25

44

13

43

*

1996 Feb 23-25

45

6

49

*

1990 Oct 11-14

42

10

47

1

1957 Aug 29-Sep 4

25

14

56

5

1955 Jun 24-29

24

16

58

2

1954 Jul 2-7

26

16

58

*

1953 Feb 1-5

10

20

68

2

1951

21

20

57

2

Women

2002 Nov 11-14

66

4

30

*

2001 Jul 19-22

68

2

30

*

1999 Jul 22-25

58

5

37

*

1996 Feb 23-25

63

3

34

*

1990 Oct 11-14

61

4

34

1

1957 Aug 29-Sep 4

45

8

42

5

1955 Jun 24-29

49

10

38

3

1954 Jul 2-7

45

12

42

1

1953 Feb 1-5

43

11

45

1

1951

44

12

43

1

What do you think is the ideal body weight for you, personally?


124 lbs. or less


125-149 lbs.


150-174 lbs.


175-199 lbs.

200 lbs. and over


No opinion


Average weight

%

%

%

%

%

%

Lbs.

National Adults

2002 Nov 11-14

15

28

24

18

11

4

157

2001 Jul 19-22

11

31

26

20

9

3

156

1999 Jul 22-25

13

31

23

19

12

3

157

1990 Oct 11-14

18

32

24

16

6

4

149

Men

2002 Nov 11-14

1

8

31

34

24

2

181

2001 Jul 19-22

2

8

31

38

19

2

177

1999 Jul 22-25

*

8

28

37

23

3

180

1990 Oct 11-14

1

10

41

33

12

3

171

Women

2002 Nov 11-14

27

46

17

3

1

6

134

2001 Jul 19-22

20

51

22

3

*

4

137

1999 Jul 22-25

25

52

17

3

1

2

136

1990 Oct 11-14

32

51

10

2

*

5

129

At this time are you seriously trying to lose weight?

 

Yes

No

No opinion

%

%

%

National Adults

2002 Nov 11-14

24

75

1

2001 Jul 19-22

25

75

*

1999 Jul 22-25

20

80

*

1996 Feb 23-25

26

74

*

1990 Oct 11-14

18

82

*

1955

17

83

*

1953

25

75

*

1951

19

81

*

Men

2002 Nov 11-14

19

80

1

2001 Jul 19-22

17

82

1

1999 Jul 22-25

16

84

*

1996 Feb 23-25

22

78

*

1990 Oct 11-14

11

88

1

Women

2002 Nov 11-14

30

70

*

2001 Jul 19-22

32

68

0

1999 Jul 22-25

24

76

*

1996 Feb 23-25

30

70

*

1990 Oct 11-14

24

76

*

* -- Less than 0.5%


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