An epidemic of fat

Hokey smokes.

And crikey.

U.S. adults aren't getting taller, but they're still putting on pounds

The average U.S. adult is overweight and just a few pounds from obese, thanks to average weight increases in all groups — but particularly whites and Hispanics.

Overall, the average height for men actually fell very slightly over the past decade. There was no change for women.

Average weight, waist size, and BMI (a measure of obesity) has increased over the past 18 years, a new report says, further supporting the notion that the U.S. has an obesity crisis.

One factor may be the shift in the country's population. 

There's a growing number of Mexican-Americans, and that group tends to be a little shorter, said one of the report's authors, Cynthia Ogden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

. . . .

CDC records date back to the early 1960s, when the average man was a little over 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 166 pounds. 

Now, men are almost 1 inch taller and more than 30 pounds heavier. 

But today's average height of 5 feet, 9 inches is about a tenth of an inch shorter than about a decade ago.

The average woman in the early 1960s was 5 feet, 3 inches and 140 pounds. 

Now, women are a half-inch taller and about 30 pounds heavier, on average. 

The average height is about the same as it was a decade earlier: 5 feet, 4 inches.

I'm a 6 foot tall white guy and I weigh 195, making me a tad overweight per the CDC.

The average American male is three inches shorter than I and weighs 198.

My wife is five feet tall and weighs 128.

Jeez.

. . . .

The average height of black men and white men has been holding about steady, at a little under 5 feet 10.

Mexican-American and Asian-American men are roughly 3 inches shorter than whites and blacks, on average. 

There was a similar height gap in women.

In 2016, about 18 percent of the nation's population was Hispanic, up from about 13 percent in 2000, according to U.S. Census figures. 

Mexican-Americans account for nearly two-thirds of the Hispanic population.