Recent Gallup polling in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada indicates that American adults have a bigger weight problem than do the British or Canadians, with the difference especially pronounced among men. Many have weighed in on the burgeoning obesity problem in all three countries, including Britain’s Prince Charles, who blames lack of exercise in modern lifestyles. Gallup’s exercise data cast some doubt on this thesis, though, suggesting diet may play the larger role.Gallup conducted parallel surveys in Great Britain and Canada in December 2005, asking a number of weight- and exercise-related questions that were included in Gallup’s annual Health survey from November 2005.

American Men Tip the Scales

According to respondents’ self-reported height and weight measurements, 70% of U.S. men are overweight, compared with 55% of men in Canada and 42% of men in Great Britain. By contrast, 44% of women in the United States are overweight, compared with 33% of women in Canada and 32% in Great Britain. These percentages represent the number of people who can be classified as “overweight” or “obese” according to the standard Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation widely used in medical and government health research.

On average, American men are only an inch taller than men in Canada and Great Britain, but they weigh nearly 10 pounds more than Canadian men and nearly 15 pounds more than British men.

At five feet, five inches tall, American women are also an inch taller, on average, than women in Canada and Great Britain. They are 7 pounds heavier than Canadian women and 10 pounds heavier than British women.

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