The Average American Woman
Dieting & Weight Statistics
Has your perspective of your body weight been distorted by the media? (It probably has, in some way.)
- The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds.
- The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds.
- Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women.
- Four out of five American women say they're dissatisfied with the way they look.
- On any given day, almost half of the women in the United States are on a diet.
It's important to stay real when setting goals and assessing your current state. Here are some facts that you should think about very seriously before getting on the diet roller coaster:
Dieting is out of control in the United States...
- Almost half of American children between first and third grades say they want to be thinner.
- Four out of five ten-year-old children are afraid of being fat.
- On any given day, one in four men are on a diet.
- Half of our nine and ten-year-old girls say that being on a diet makes them feel better about themselves.
- More than one out of three "normal dieters" progress to pathological dieting. One fourth of those will suffer from partial or full syndrome eating disorders.
- Americans spend over forty billion dollars a year on dieting and diet related products.
- Between five and ten million women and girls in the United States struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.
- One million boys and men struggle with eating disorders and borderline conditions.
- The number of people with eating disorders and borderline conditions is triple the number of people living with AIDS (664,921 people are living with AIDS).
- Eating disorders affect at least three times as many people as schizophrenia does (2.2 million people are living with schizophrenia).
Sources: Crowther et al., 1992; Fairburn et al., 1993; Gordon, 1990; Hoek, 1995; Shisslak et al., 1995., US Department of Health and Human Services, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 1998, Treatment Advocacy Center, 1999, Smolak, 1996., Mellin et al., 1991., Collins, 1991., Shisslak & Crago, 1995.
