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.
