People are just learning the average weight for American males and it’s leaving them shocked
People have only just discovered what the average weight of an American man comes in at, and it’s a concerning read for some.
The figure comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and worryingly it’s estimated that the average American aged 20 or over weighs a staggering 33 pounds more than their ancestors did just over 50 years ago.
To put that into perspective, that’s about the same amount of weight as a standard microwave.
While the data was released four months ago, a recent Reddit broke the news to some of those on the platform.
“TIL [Today I learned] I weigh less than the average American even though I think I need to lose 25 pounds,” one user brutally quipped.
While a second added: “It’s so easy to get fat in America, was 265-270 at my largest but down to 190 basically only changing eating habits.”
Redditors were shocked to discover the state of America’s waistline (Getty stock)
Surprisingly, if you’re aged 20 or over and you weigh 190 pounds, you’d actually be just short of 10 pounds lighter than the average American – which currently stands at 199 pounds.
So where does that number actually come from? According to data from the CDC, the average adult male in the US weighs just under 200 pounds, based on nationwide health surveys.
That figure puts many men right on the edge of the ‘overweight’ category depending on their height, body composition, and activity level.
It’s worth noting that ‘average’ doesn’t mean ‘ideal’. The CDC points out that a healthy weight range varies widely depending on factors like height, age, muscle mass, and body fat percentage.
The average American aged 20 and over weighs a 199 pounds, with the average height being 5’7″ (Getty stock)
Tools like Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist measurements are often used to gauge health risk, but experts stress they don’t tell the whole story – someone who’s fit and muscular, for example, might technically fall into the ‘overweight’ range without actually being unhealthy.
As for the figure around how much men weighed back in the early 1960s – the average American man over 20 weighed around 166 pounds, according to government records. Fast forward to today, and that’s a jump of roughly 33 pounds.
That steady climb reflects bigger shifts in lifestyle, diet, and daily habits.
More processed foods, more screen time, and less physical activity have all played their part in shaping modern waistlines.
To make the figure even more frightening, the average American man aged 20 and over is 5′ 7″ in height – which would see them fall just short of being ‘obese’ on the BMI if they also weighed 199 pounds… obviously, as mentioned earlier that would depend on how muscular they were among other factors.
As for US women, in the latest data their average weight is 171.8 pounds and their average height is 63.5 inches, again around 30 pounds heavier than the average weight between 1960-62.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Photos
Topics: Health
Joe Yates
People are just learning how parmesan cheese is made and it’s leaving them devastated
Parmesan cheese is a favorite for many, but some have changed their mind after learning how it’s made
I think it comes as a given as to how some foods are made, though parmesan cheese is seemingly not in that category.
Whether it be a spaghetti bolognese or a carbonara, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese really can take such dishes to the next level.
There are so many delicious cheeses out there: from cheddar and feta to gouda and brie – but parmesan is the one for such Italian classics.
But when it tastes so nice, it can certainly be easy to forget how the food is made. But after much of the internet recently discovered how parmesan cheese is made, it has left a lot of people in utter devastation.
Typically, the much-loved cheese – which many are surprised to learn isn’t vegetarian – is made up of cow’s milk that has aged for at least 12 months in copper vats.
People are learning how parmesan cheese is made (Getty Stock Photo)
During this process, the milk is heated and other ingredients such as whey and rennet are added to the mix.
The Courtyard Dairy explained: “Animal rennet is an enzyme obtained from the fourth stomach of an unweaned calf (this can include veal calves, or even lamb and kid).
“At that stage in their life they’ve only consumed milk, so the natural enzyme for coagulating milk (chymosin) is present in large quantities.
“As the calves get older the amount of chymosin reduces and other enzymes take its place (those necessary for digesting other foodstuffs).”
Essentially, when a baby cow is killed, the cullers will remove its stomach and let it dry out.
The dehydrated stomach is cut up into small pieces and added to the cheese mixture.
The mixture will then coagulate to the point where you have a block of cheese.
Many can’t believe how the cheese is made (Getty Stock Photo)
Such revelation has recently made its way onto Twitter, with one user penning: “Parmesan cow cheese contains rennet, a stomach enzyme.
“For this, a baby cow is killed only so its stomach can be taken, cut open, dried, cut into cubes & added to the cheese mixture to curdle it.
“The dairy industry is the meat industry tbh but yea parmesan is extremely cruel.”
Many have flocked to the comments section of the viral Twitter post, with one person writing: “Omg I didn’t know this and now I’m even more disturbed. Brb gagging over how much parmesan I consumed before going vegan.”
A second added: “I didn’t even know this that’s so upsetting,” while a third quipped: “Why do I keep learning about horror film worthy techniques people keep trying to make food with…. This is disgusting, I had no idea.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image/Getty/MARCO BERTORELLO
Topics: Food and Drink
Callum Jones
People are just finding out how Bluetooth got its strange name and it’s leaving them stunned
Three people came together to create a world-changing technology, and it’s name is quite fitting
People from around the world use Bluetooth every day, and might only know it as a type of wireless technology, however, the meaning behind the namesake means so much more and people are baffled.
Wondering where the name Bluetooth came from is pretty valid- after all, it has nothing to do with how it operates.
However, the reason for why it was given such a unique name is something that’s mind-blowing, full of history, and has left people utterly shocked.
Now, we’re not talking recent history. In fact, it dates back to over a thousand years of innovation.
Do you know why Bluetooth is called Bluetooth? (Getty Stock Images)
You see, Bluetooth was developed in the 1990s, by the creators of Intel, Ericsson and Nokia.
Initially, they only chose the name as a placeholder ‘until marketing could come up with something really cool’, but it seems like they enjoyed the name enough that they ended up keeping it on as the official name.
At the time of its creation, cables were used to share data between devices, and it wasn’t as instantaneous as it is now.
As time passed and Bluetooth became more widely available, the three industry leaders decided that the name behind it was all too fitting not to keep, and when you read what it is, you’ll understand.
That’s because it’s named after King Harold ‘Bluetooth’ Gormsson.
Over on the Bluetooth website, the brand explains the significance of the name: “In 1996, three industry leaders, Intel, Ericsson, and Nokia, met to plan the standardization of this short-range radio technology to support connectivity and collaboration between different products and industries. During this meeting, Jim Kardach from Intel suggested Bluetooth as a temporary code name.
King Harald ‘Bluetooth’ Gormsson was the reason for the name (Wikimedia Commons / Orf3us)
“The name dates back more than a millennia to King Harald ‘Bluetooth’ Gormsson who was well known for two things: Uniting Denmark and Norway in 958,” it reads. “[And] his dead tooth, which was a dark blue/grey colour, and earned him the nickname Bluetooth.”
Kardach was later quoted as saying: “King Harald Bluetooth…was famous for uniting Scandinavia just as we intended to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.”
That’s a very fitting name.
As they were meant to be on the hunt for a permanent name, something changed their minds.
The options were either RadioWire or PAN (Personal Area Networking), and while PAN was the favorite, it already had tens of thousands of hits on the web.
So, that left the brands with RadioWire as a namesake, but the trademark couldn’t be completed in time for launch, thus forcing them to keep Bluetooth.
The most amazing thing? The Bluetooth logo is a combination of two symbols, the Younger Futhark runes, Hagall – ᚼ – and Bjarkan – ᛒ – which were Harald’s initials.
Reacting to this news, a Reddit user said: “I love that it’s named after a guy. That’s so stupid and bad sci-fiesque that it’s charming.”
Another user wrote: “It was originally intended to be a placeholder name while the project was in development, but it stuck. It’s named after the 10th century Danish King Harald Bluetooth.”
