Statistics
Statistics
In researching size related issues, it is inevitable that you will run across some statistics. They are, to say the least, eye opening. Without further ado:
Averages
The average fashion model is 5'9" to 6' tall, weighs 110 - 118 lbs and is seventeen to twenty-six years old. The average fashion model wears a size 6 - 8 dress.
The average American woman is 5'5" tall, weighs 142 lbs, and is 44 years old. The average American woman wears a size 14 dress.
Standardized Charts vs. Reality
More than one third of Americans weigh at least 20% more than their "ideal" weight according to standardized height/weight charts.
Of children aged 6-11, 27% (more than one fifth) weight more than the "ideal" on standardized charts.
Of teenagers, 22% weigh more than the "ideal" on standardized charts.
Dieting
The normal daily intake for adults is 2400-3000 calories a day. The average caloric intake in most commercial weight loss programs range from 945-1200 calories a day . The World Health organization defines starvation as 900 calories or less a day.
On any given day, 48 million Americans are dieting.
Each year, 65 million Americans choose from 30,000 diet plans.
In a study of 4th-grade girls (nine to ten years old), 90% were on some type of diet.
In 1992, the National Institutes of Health held investigatory hearings and concluded that diets do not work and may even be dangerous to one's health.
The National Institutes of Health and other studies show that 95-98% of people who lose weight gain it back within five years. Only 2-5% of dieters succeed in keeping their weight off. 90% of those gain back more weight than they lost. The failure of weight loss programs is so great that a leading researcher has said, "Dieting is the leading cause of obesity in the US."
The Institute of Medicine found that those who lose weight on diets regain two-thirds of the weight they lost within one year, and almost all of it within five years.
In 1993, Consumer Reports did a study that demonstrated that more than a quarter of dieters in commercial weight loss programs did not meet the medical criteria for even moderate overweight.
Risks from Dieting
Illnesses now associated with dieting through various studies:
Eating Disorders
It is estimated that in the U.S. alone, 150,000 women will die from eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, this year. Dieting is thought to "set up" the starve-binge pattern that leads to the development of eating disorders.
One in five American women is suffering from a severe form of an eating disorder, and eight out of ten have some of the symptoms of these illnesses.
One out of two hundred American girls aged 12-18 suffers from anorexia nervosa.
One out of four American college women is bulimic.
The Money Angle
Americans spend 33 billion dollars a year on diets and diet products
6.7% of 8th to 10th grade girls buy over-the-counter diet pills.
Some Surprizing Health Facts
Fat people have been found to have lowered incidence of pre-menopausal breast cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, meningioma, and colon cancer when compared to the general population.
Fat people also have lower rates of bronchitis, tuberculosis, scoliosis, peptic ulcer, anemia, hip fracture, and vertebral fracture when compared to the general population.
A number of studies (The Seven Country Study, the Framingham, Albany, Tecumseh, Chicago People's Gas, and Chicago Western Electric) found that people who are 20-40% over their recommended weight according to height-weight charts lived the longest. And although the chance of dying, increases with weight, the people who actually had the shortest life spans were those at or below their recommended weight according to height-weight charts.
The risk of dying from heart disease is 70% higher in those with fluctuating weights than in those whose weight remains stable, regardless of their initial weight, blood pressure, smoking habits, cholesterol level, or level of physical activity, according to The Framingham Study, The New England Journal of Medicine, 1991.
What Is Beautiful/Sexy?
Lillian Russell, the leading sex symbol at the end of the 19th century, weighed over 200 pounds.
Marilyn Monroe would be considered "overweight" by today's standards. She fluctuated between a size 14 and size 18 dress!
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