In soccer loving countries, most of the men weight less, is that because their childhood heros were thinner?
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| Soccer MVP Landon Donovan - 158 lbs |
| Player | Sport | Height | Weight | BMI |
| Payton Maning | NFL Football | 6'5" | 230 | 27.3 |
| Joe Mauer | AL Baseball | 6'5" | 230 | 27.3 |
| Albert Pujols | NL Baseball | 6'3" | 230 | 28.7 |
| LeBron James | NBA Basketball | 6'8" | 250 | 27.5 |
| Landon Donovan | USMLS Soccer | 5'8" | 158 | 24 |
| Tiger Woods | Golf | 6'1" | 185 | 24.4 |
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| NBA MVP Lebron James 250 lbs |
Observations: First athletes are muscular, and that makes them heavier than non-athletes. All elite athletes are lean, but not thin. They often have high BMIs.
American athletic heros are all over 6'3" which is over 95% for height, and three are 6'5" which is probably 99%, but I have trouble finding data. These sports heroes don't look like the fans. Maybe that is why they are heroic. Nonetheless, the men and boys who spend the weekend watching them on TV, can't hope to compare.
Women talk about "body image," when they discuss whether girls can look like fashion models or pin-up models. Men don't discuss that, but I think that norming behavior is there anyway, changing the way boys and young men think about how they should look.
There is a guy at work who used to play football in college; I am sure he was muscular and strong when he played. He is no less big today. He told me once that he felt weak when he lost weight, but he is 300 lbs.
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| Payton Manning 230 lb and Tiger Woods 185lb |
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| Albert Pujols 230 lbs |
Everyone knows Americans weigh more than people in other, more soccer loving countries.
It would be interesting if golf or tennis became as popular as football, baseball or basketball. Would guys gradually get thinner.
The following table illustrates how Americans are heavier than two soccer loving countries. Surprisingly, it was hard to find better data than this.
Country/Region | Average male weight | Average female weight | Sample population / age range | Methodology | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chile | 75.6 kg (166.7 lb) | 65.7 kg (144.8 lb) | 17 and over | Measured | 2003 | [1] |
| Germany | 82.4 kg (181.7 lb) | 67.5 kg (148.8 lb) | 18 and over | Measured | 2005 | [2] |
| United States | 86.6 kg (190.9 lb) | 74.4 kg (164.0 lb) | 20-74 | Measured | 1999–2002 | [3] |
I want to close with fictional heros. Clearly Japanese Animie heros are skinner than Superman and Batman.
Big American superhero:
I would love to get a few comments on this.
That is true, and kind of strange seeing as how we come from the same genepool as the rest of the world. Have we already been able to alter the US gene pool towards taller, larger people in the short time we've been a country from mate selection? It would be interesting to see height data in that sense. You could say that the US was a very agricultural society in its beginnings and large men were helpful in that sense and so may have been selected for. Undoubtedly men and boys in this country want to be large and muscular though. The soccer players seem more concerned with being agile and fit, more of a total body health rather than just looking strong.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning every culture was agricultural, but there are some ethnicities that are shorter in statistics I have seen. American Indians are shorter than Europeans. Some Asians are shorter too.
ReplyDeleteI think that Americans are fatter because they have a goal of being bigger. If they idolized soccer players they'd be thinner.