Americans don’t think they’re fat
Ninety percent of Americans know that most of their compatriots are overweight, but just 40% believe themselves to be too fat, according to a study published Tuesday.
Government statistics show that more than 60% of the U.S. population is overweight, and half of them are obese.
But a telephone survey of more than 2,000 adults by the Pew Research Center found that many people overestimate how tall they are and underestimate how much they weigh -- and thus do not rate themselves as overweight, even when they are.
Women reported they weighed a median of 150 pounds and had a median height of 5 feet 5 inches, which would put them just barely on the borderline of being overweight.
But national statistics indicate that U.S. women in fact have a median weight of 155 pounds and are only 5 feet 4 inches tall, which puts them squarely into the overweight column.
Men overestimated their heights even more, claiming an average height of 5 feet 11 inches compared with the national average of 5 feet 9 inches.
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