Statistics don't lie -- Americans are fat

December 15, 2006

There's no polite way to say this: Americans are the fattest people on the planet.

Americans are heavier than Mexicans, Australians, Greeks, New Zealanders and the British -- and they aren't too far behind, the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States said.

Americans' love of water -- Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 -- is balanced by a love of sweets. Americans ate more than twice as much high-fructose corn syrup per person in 2004 as we did in 1980.

Most of the statistical tidbits provided by the abstract come from a variety of sources, including the government. In releasing the abstract Friday, the Census Bureau said the information is presented raw, without explanations, interpretations or cautions.

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