GOVERNMENT REPORT Americans have grown taller, fatter since '60s
Researchers cited overeating and lack of exercise.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Better nutrition has helped Americans grow a little taller. But it's been too much of a good thing: The nation is also a whole lot fatter.
Adults are roughly an inch taller than they were in the early 1960s, on average, and nearly 25 pounds heavier, the government reported Wednesday.
The nation's expanding waistline has been well documented, though Wednesday's report is the first to quantify it based on how many pounds the average person is carrying.
The reasons are no surprise: more fast food, more television and less walking around the neighborhood, to name a few. Earlier this year, researchers reported that obesity fueled by poor diet and lack of activity threatens to overtake tobacco use as the leading preventable cause of death.
In 1960-62, the average man weighed 166.3 pounds. By 1999-2002, the average had reached 191 pounds, according to the National Center for Health Statistics -- part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- which issued the report. Similarly, the report said, the average woman's weight rose from 140.2 pounds to 164.3 pounds.
Children
The trends are the same for children, the report said: Average 10-year-olds weighed about 11 pounds more in 1999-2002 than they did 40 years ago. So expect the next generation of adults to be even heavier than they are today, said Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
"All the kids who are obese now will become obese adults," Klein said. "What will happen with the next generation of adults is really scary."
Obesity can increase the likelihood of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other health problems.
he report also documented an increase in weight when measured by body mass index, a scale that takes into account both height and weight. Average BMI for adults, ages 20 to 74, has increased from about 25 to 28 over the 40-year span.
Anyone with a BMI of 25 and up is considered overweight, and those with BMIs of 30 or more are considered obese.
Height
At same time, though less dramatically, Americans are getting a little bit taller.
Men's average height increased from 5 feet 8 inches in the early 1960s to 5 feet 9 1/2 inches in 1999-2002.
The average height of a woman, meanwhile, went from just over 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches.
The increases in height and weight are both fueled by the availability of more food, researchers say. To reach genetic potential for height, the human body needs a certain level of nourishment, and Wednesday's report shows that Americans have achieved it, said David Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.
"You have put every last calorie into the system that you need to reach your genetic potential," Katz said. After that, he said, "there's only one place for the rest of those calories to go" -- into fat.
Alarming numbers
The weight gain trend is typically reported as what portion of all children or all adults are overweight. Those numbers are also alarming. In 1999-2002, 31 percent of adults had a BMI of 30 or over, considered obese. That's more than double the rate in the early '60s.
About two in three adults in 1999-2002 were considered overweight.
The explanations all involve too much food or not enough exercise.
Americans now have 300 channels instead of three to keep them in front of the tube -- and a remote control to surf them. Computers and video games keep adults and kids alike staring at screens. E-mail lets people deliver messages without ever standing up. And technological advances often mean less movement.
"Everyone has a leaf blower. Ten years ago, people had rakes," David Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.
There are also changes in neighborhoods. Some are not safe, so kids and adults stay inside. Others lack sidewalks or require someone to dodge six lanes of traffic if they want to walk to a store.
Food is also to blame. Portions have gotten bigger, and people go out to eat more. Junk food that stays fresh for a long time is more readily available. It's much easier to find a bag of cookies or potato chips in the cupboard than an orange, which may go bad in a few days.