Americans Continue to Pack on the Pounds

We have stuffed ourselves with turkey, and even before the leftovers are gone, it's time for a reality check. 

American men and women, on average, report weighing nearly 20 pounds (9 kilograms) more than they did in 1990, according to the annual Health and Healthcare survey conducted by Gallup in early November.

Men, on average, said they weighed 196 pounds (89 kilograms), while women, said they weighed 160 pounds (73 kilograms), according to a report on Gallup's website.

This puts us further from our ideal weights, which have also gone up: Men reported wanting to weigh 181 pounds (82 kilograms) and women see themselves at 138 pounds (63 kilograms), the survey of 1,012 adults indicated.

Our perceived ideal weight has increased along with our self-reported weight, but not as quickly. As a result, we have gotten further from our ideal weight over the past 20 years. For men, who now say they'd like to weigh 181 pounds, that difference has climbed from 9 to 15 pounds (4 to 7 kilograms). For women, who say their ideal weight is 138 pounds, the gap has risen from 13 to 22 pounds (6 to 10 kilograms).

This year, 39 percent of American adults reported they are very or somewhat overweight.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

However, it appears we may be cutting ourselves too much slack. Separate data collected by Gallup and the company Healthways indicate that nearly 62 percent of Americans are overweight or obese based on their body mass index, a ratio of height and weight that gauges a person's level of body fat.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention links being overweight or obese with increasing levels of risk for coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, high blood pressure, stroke and a number of other potentially serious health conditions.

You can followsenior writer Wynne Parry on Twitter. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter and on.

• 7 Biggest Diet Myths
• 7 Diet Tricks That Really Work
• 8 Reasons Our Waistlines Are Expanding