IGMM

Are you an American? Are you an adult? If you answered yes to both of these, than I bet you’re overweight, perhaps obese. No offense, studies just show that 63 percent of adult Americans are statistically carrying around extra baggage. If it makes you feel any better, you haven’t always weighed so much. In fact, just 50 years ago, the average American weighed 25 pounds less than they do today, and they were only 1 inch shorter.

1960s man: 5’9  / 166 pounds  -  2010s man: 5’10 / 191 pounds
1960s woman: 5’3 / 138 pounds  -  2010s woman: 5’4 / 163 pounds

So, in 50 years, we have grown 1 inch, and gained 25 pounds. That is a lot of pounds per inch, so much so, that if the average woman today weighed 25 pounds per inch, she would tip the scales at 1,600 pounds (the approximate weight of the wild Asian water buffalo–the 10th biggest animal in the world).

How the hell did we get so damn big you’re asking? Oh, there are a number of reasons for the fatness in our asses, but without a doubt, fast food has played a major role in the supersizing of our citizens. What is to be expected when 25 percent of Americans eat fast food on the daily.

It all makes sense–fast food options are cheap, easy to find, and don’t forget, plentiful—over 50,000 locations in the United States alone.

Once again, this hasn’t always been the case–fast food restaurants haven’t always littered the landscape of every township, city, and suburb. In 1963, there were only 250 McDonald’s restaurants throughout the United States–today, they have over 13,000 locations (an average of 260 McDonald’s Restaurants per state).

People in Kansas City are eating it up too. A recent study by money blog Bundle.com crunched the numbers on the 100 largest cities in the United States to find out who spends the most on fast food. “Everything’s Bigger” in Plano, Texas took home the gold medal, but at number 6, Kansas City wasn’t far behind.

In all, Americans spend well over $100 billion on fast food every year. We spend this kind of money on alcohol, cigarettes, and illegal drugs as well. Everybody wants the Big Macs, booze, smokes and blow. It seems we’re all in a big hurry to kill ourselves, and max out the credit card doing it.