American Stereotypes: Americans are fat

Photo by Christian Kadluba

This is the second installment in a new series of articles called "American Stereotypes," which explores stereotypes about Americans. Today's topic is: Americans are fat.

"Americans are fat" is a pretty common stereotype. Often, the view isn't that Americans are just slightly overweight, but rather that most Americans are downright morbidly obese! Just do a Google image search for fat American if you don't believe me. ;-)

As with many stereotypes, there is some truth behind it.

Read more to learn about this stereotype!

The unfortunate truth

Unfortunately, this stereotype does have a "large" basis in fact. Americans are getting bigger and bigger, according to various studies over the years by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While 24.3% of Americans were overweight in the early 1960's, that percentage climbed to 33.3% by the mid 1980's.

Nowadays, 33.8% of Americans are considered obese, and that number continues to grow. That means that nearly 2/3 of all American adults are currently overweight or obese.

A global trend

Now let's put this stereotype in perspective. Yes, Americans are leading the way (and sometimes with a peculiar sense of pride).

The whole truth: people all over the world are getting fatter too! In the Middle East: Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE are nearly keeping up with America. Saudi Arabia actually tops America, with 73% of adults considered overweight. In Europe, the percentage of overweight adults in the UK, Germany and Bosnia is very close to the U.S. Obesity rates continue to grow in Australia, Canada, Brazil, and in many other industrialized nations.

So, it appears Americans are indeed fat. However, many other nations are just as fat as Americans, yet don't get all the special attention.

What do you think? Is this stereotype is accurate? Or do you think it's unfair? Write a comment!