The average American woman's weight has increased 11 pounds (7%) in the 10 years between the gathering of statistics, while her height has remained about the same (an increase of 0.1 inch or 0.2% taller). Earlier I had reported a weight of 152 pounds (69 kg) and height 5' 3.7" (162 cm). Now, it's 163 pounds (74 kg) and 5'3.8" (163 cm). Men have have also increased their weight by an average of 10 pounds (6%), from 180 to 190 pounds, while remaining essentially the same height: 5'9". The USA results are from the National Center for Health Statistics, based on two studies: NHANES III (1988 — 94) and, the most recent available, HANES (1999 — 2000).According to health charts, a woman of 5'3" should weigh no more than 147 pounds (for a large frame) and can be considered still at a healthy weight at 111 pounds (for a light frame). But since we are talking averages here, let's use the medium frame weight recommendation of 121-135 pounds. That means that the average woman in the United States needs to lose 28-42 pounds, and qualifies as obese, no matter what frame size she has.
Jiminey Christmas.
