Poll: Fewer Americans express desire to lose weight

Americans are less likely to say they want to lose weight in this decade than in the previous one, according to a Gallup survey.

Gallup surveyed 1,019 U.S. adults over the phone and found that 53% of them said they wanted to lose weight in 2010 to 2016 compared to 59% in 2000 to 2009. The finding for the current decade is comparable to the number of people who reported wanting to lose weight in the 1990s, but is up from the 1950s, when 35% of people wanted to lose weight.

According to the survey results, fewer Americans in the 2010s said they are either somewhat or very overweight (37%) than did in the 2000s (41%) and in the 1990s (44%).

The survey also found that the self-reported weight and ideal weight for U.S. residents has been trending upward since the 1990s. In the 2010s, the average ideal weight expressed was 161 lbs. and the average actual reported weight was 176 lbs., up from 158 lbs. and 174 lbs. in the 2000s and 153 lbs. and 166 lbs. in the 1990s, respectively.

Reference:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/198074/fewer-americans-lose-weight-past-decade.aspx