Althouse: "This is the average American male in his 30s. He doesn't look too bad, right?"

October 15, 2013

"This is the average American male in his 30s. He doesn't look too bad, right?"

Uh... wrong.

37 comments:

Original Mike said...: Pretty chubby.; 10/15/13, 2:59 PM
Rocketeer said...: Clearly, we need to eat more fish and take up smoking.; 10/15/13, 3:06 PM
bleh said...: Is this the average non-Hispanic white American male, or the average American male (including all races)?; 10/15/13, 3:09 PM
Wince said...: What if it were found that the degree of "racial purity" within each national group was correlated with fitness?; 10/15/13, 3:09 PM
cubanbob said...: Now lets see the who the female cohort in their 30' stack up.; 10/15/13, 3:15 PM
MadisonMan said...: I look more Netherlandish.; 10/15/13, 3:18 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Heh. Well, it's not too fair how they stacked the deck with the faces!; 10/15/13, 3:20 PM
Henry said...: What the Netherlands have going for them is that they're small. They were selected because they were an outlier.

Let's find the U.S. State with the best BMI and throw that on the table. Hey Europe, I'll see your Netherlands with my Utah and raise you Colorado.; 10/15/13, 3:21 PM
Original Mike said...: "I look more Netherlandish."

I look more Neanderthalish.; 10/15/13, 3:25 PM
Original Mike said...: A svelte Neanderthal, mind you.; 10/15/13, 3:32 PM
dbp said...: I wonder how many American men are close to average? What I see in my day-to-day life are a fair number of pretty fit guys and a fair number that are really quite fat.

The fat guys would love to look average and the fit guys work awful hard to avoid looking average.; 10/15/13, 3:34 PM
Moose said...: Wouldn't we all be screaming about sexism if women were presented in this light? Gosh I think so...; 10/15/13, 3:38 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm thinking Althouse would appreciate him a bit more if he were wearing shorts, sandals with socks, and maybe stepping on a Bob Dylan album or something:

Add a word bubble:

'What are you doin' in a law firm, sweetie?'

or:

'I'm trying to raise awareness surrounding our collective duties.'; 10/15/13, 3:43 PM
SteveR said...: There's always a problem with "average". While its a simple mathematical concept but somewhere while becoming an adjective, it goes beyond people's ability to use it.; 10/15/13, 3:49 PM
Glen Filthie said...: Does the Huff & Blow speak for all women on this Ann, or just the stupid ones? (Those would be the feminists that scream and sob about 'fat shaming' and 'body image' problems).

And speaking of stupid women - weren't they the ones that responded to this problem by telling us guys that fat chicks are actually sexy as they gobble 5 lb. bags of M&M's at one go?

Well if it works for the goose, it will work for the Gander! If anyone needs me I will be at the Heart Attack Grille having a pail of beer and a Triple Bypass - served up piping hot by a Naughty Nurse with 38D's!

And as for YOU, Ann, you filthy mysoganist harridan:

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLCH!

Fat guys are sexy, and don't you forget it!; 10/15/13, 3:58 PM
Econophile said...: dbp... my thoughts exactly. In other countries, I see far, far fewer fit people and I'm guessing the U.S. has double the proportion who are capable of jogging even 2 miles. I believe there are also fewer morbidly obese to be seen, yes, though I'd imagine the ones who do exist are less willing to leave the house in other locales.

Also, as Henry suggested, there's so much variation across the U.S. in height and weight. (Before moving to Wisconsin, I would have considered myself somewhat tall for a female!)

BMI has sadly become a mere flash point for those looking to fault America for... I don't know, being a decent place to live. ("What? Europe is disintegrating culturally and demographically? Well, at least we're not FAT!"); 10/15/13, 4:01 PM
n.n said...: People need to consume proportionate to their activity, but always in moderation. The liberal excesses of Americans, which is not uniquely American, is their single greatest failing.; 10/15/13, 4:20 PM
Anonymous said...: We were told ever since we were born that each one of us was special. Therefore, none of us is an average American, whatever the study is about, it doesn't apply.; 10/15/13, 4:20 PM
Original Mike said...: "We were told ever since we were born that each one of us was special."

I'm guessing you're younger than I am. I'm 57. I don't remember being told as a child that I was special. I do remember being told that I needed to do better, to be better than I was.

And my parents were right.; 10/15/13, 4:27 PM
Peter said...: SteveR said, "There's always a problem with "average".

Indeed. I'd like to see the distribution. Is it, perhaps, bimodal, with peaks for the more-fit and the more-fat and not so many close to average?

And, what's the effect of age? One expects some middle-age spread, but have younger Americans ballooned more than older ones?

(And, yes, the chosen faces degrade the article as they obviously push the reader toward a conclusion.); 10/15/13, 4:48 PM
wildswan said...: You wonder why Americans are booked for living longer on average if they are fatter on average. I thought overweight reduced life span.; 10/15/13, 5:00 PM
wildswan said...: You wonder why Americans are booked for living longer on average if they are fatter on average. I thought overweight reduced life span.; 10/15/13, 5:00 PM
Michael K said...: I examine military recruits and am surprised at the level of obesity in the teens and 20s.; 10/15/13, 5:01 PM
Anonymous said...: For some reason this makes me think of an old joke the punch line of which is, "You don't sweat much for a fat girl."; 10/15/13, 5:03 PM
Anthony said...: Look - a real man!; 10/15/13, 5:05 PM
Moxie D. Hoxie said...: Extremely muscular people have a high BMI, too. The BMI is a ratio of weight to height and doesn't take muscle mass or fat composition into account. And I am not sure this exercise did, either.; 10/15/13, 5:24 PM
Sigivald said...: EDH asked: What if it were found that the degree of "racial purity" within each national group was correlated with fitness?

We'd be shocked, since none of the Euromutts are remotely "racially pure".; 10/15/13, 5:35 PM
Titus said...: The sad thing is many straight women would accept this fatty.

Even gays in their 70's don't look this porky in America, except in red states natch where gays are fat at all ages because it doesn't really matter.; 10/15/13, 5:44 PM
The Godfather said...: These statistics are intentionally made obtuse by using centimeters. However, as I convert them into real numbers I note the following:

The average Netherlander is supposedly 6" 2". There's no place in the world where that's the average height of a European-type male, other than a Hollywood sound stage.

The average American male is 5' 9", with a 39" waist. That's almost exactly me -- but I'm 70. Most of the 30-year-old males that I see are taller than me, and thinner than me. So I don't believe these numbers.

But if the statistics are right, maybe I should ask my wife to let me start dating again.; 10/15/13, 6:06 PM
chickelit said...: He looks just perfect for today's perfect woman--Lena Dunham!; 10/15/13, 6:28 PM
Big Mike said...: The Frenchman should have a more sunken-looking chest.; 10/15/13, 6:53 PM
Carl Pham said...: Why are these average guys all in tighty whiteys? C'mon, we need to also compare the average cock size, both flaccid and erect. Don't tell me those Pittsburgh-based artists didn't measure that, too, ha ha ha.

And usually HuffPo doesn't miss a page hit whoring opportunity like that. They're strangely off their game here. Tut tut. I must call my broker and sell some AOL stock.; 10/15/13, 7:22 PM
heyboom said...: In the Philippines being overweight is a sign of affluence.; 10/15/13, 7:23 PM
traditionalguy said...: High fructose corn syrup works.; 10/15/13, 7:31 PM
Unknown said...: To tell the family secret... my grandmother was Dutch.; 10/16/13, 3:11 AM
Some Seppo said...: From the artist's source the average American woman is 5'-4" and 166 lbs.

Submitted pics with self-reported heights and weights can be found here:

http://www.mybodygallery.com/search.html?gender=female&height=163&age=any&weight=73&pantSize=any&shirtSize=any&bodytype=

Not a Netherlandish one in the bunch.; 10/16/13, 11:26 AM
Don M said...: US average life span numbers are lowered by our genetic diversity. First, women of African heritage have low birth weight babies. That is not due to poverty, age, or occupation, because all that has been investigated and still low birth weight babies for African heritage females remains. Low birth rates lead to higher infant mortality.
Second, persons of African heritage have higher rates of heart disease at younger ages.; 10/16/13, 5:03 PM