Public Opinion and Weight Action About Diet Nutrition and Physical Activity - Americans' Changing Shapes And Sizes

The results of a national size survey that gathered measurements from more than 10,000 people across the United States confirmed that Americans are not only getting heavier but also have changed in proportions. The "Size USA" project is an anthropometric research study (it studies human body measurements and makes comparisons of these measurements). Using a three-dimensional body scanner, researchers compiled measurements and analyzed them by gender, age group, and four ethnicities as well as geography, annual household income, marital status, education, and employment status.

The survey was performed to assist apparel manufacturers in producing clothing that will offer a better fit to more consumers. In "Sizing Up America: Signs of Expansion from Head to Toe" (New York Times, March 1, 2004), Kate Zernike reported that the last such national survey of Americans was performed in 1941 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA survey described the average American woman as a size 8, with a 35—inch bust, 27—inch waist, and 37.5—inch hip circumference. The 2003 Size USA survey found that the average white woman's bust, waist, and hip measurements in inches were 38-32-41 for women aged eighteen to twenty-five, and 41-34-43 for women aged thirty-six to forty-five. On average, African-American women measured 43-37-46, Hispanic women 42.5-36-44, and an "other" category, composed primarily of Asian women, measured 41-35-43. Based on the Size USA survey, the average American woman wears a size 12 or 14 rather than a size 8.

American men have also increased in size. The size 40 regular, which measures 40-inches at the chest with a 34-inch waist, 40-inch hip, and a 15.5-inch collar, once considered the average, would be too small for many American men. The 2003 Size USA survey found that white men aged eighteen to twenty-five had a 41-inch chest, 35-inch waist, 41-inch hips and a 16-inch collar, and older white men, aged thirty-six to forty-five measured 44-38-42. African-American men measured an average of 43-37-42, Hispanic men 44-38-42, and an "other" category, composed primarily of Asian men, measured 42-37-41.

Interestingly, measurements did not vary significantly by geography, education, or even income. The most significant variations in body shape were attributed to race, ethnicity, and age. For example, 11% of white women were described as having protruding stomachs compared to 3% of Hispanic women and 4% of black women. More Hispanic women (20%) were described as having "full waists" than white (10%) or black (15%) women. Nearly one-quarter of black men were described as having a "prominent seat" compared to 9% of white men and 8% of Hispanic men.

The study concluded that along with expanding waists, American men over age forty-five were most likely to have increased abdominal girth—"pot bellies"—and women older than thirty-six were most likely to have big hips. Nearly 20% of men were described as "portly" and another 19% had "lower front waists," meaning their waists were below their overhanging bellies.