Whats your ideal weight? As Americans get fatter, their answer is packing on the pounds, too. A Gallup poll reports that what Americans say is their “ideal weight” has risen to 162 pounds, the highest since the organization started asking that question in 1990 and up 15 pounds since then. Despite rising obesity statistics, more of us than ever-60%-say our weight is “about right.” Overall, survey respondents averaged 176 pounds, also up 15 pounds since 1990. Men, who averaged 196 pounds of actual weight, said their ideal weight was 185 pounds; women, actually at 156 pounds, said their ideal was 140 pounds. All those weights are up substantially since 1990. As the Gallup report concluded, “These trends suggest that as Americans have grown heavier overall, their concept of what their ideal weight is has been adjusted upward as well.”
