Americans are getting taller on average but they are much heavier too, according to government figures released today showing that the US population is, literally, growing.
The findings hold for women, men and children, the National Centre for Health Statistics reports.
More than 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, with a much higher risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers than people of healthy weight.
The American Obesity Association estimates that 127 million people in the United States are overweight, 60 million are obese, and 9 million are severely obese.
On average, adult men and women are about an inch taller than they were in 1960 and 25 pounds heavier.
The average body mass index (BMI), a weight-for-height formula used to measure obesity, has tipped across the overweight point from 25 in 1960 to 28 in 2002.
The government's latest report on height and weight shows that the average height of a man aged 20 to 74 went from just over 5 feet 8 inches in 1960 to 5 feet 9 inches in 2002. The average height of a woman has gone from 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches.
Weights, however, have ballooned. The average weight of an adult man was 166.3 pounds in 1960 and 191 pounds in 2002, while the average weight for women went from 140.2 pounds to 164.3 pounds.
The average 10-year-old boy in 1963 weighed 74.2 pounds and was 55.2 inches tall. By 2002 the average weight was nearly 85 pounds and height 55.7 inches. For 10-year-old girls, the average weight in 1963 was 77.4 pounds and height 55.5 inches. Girls grew an average of an inch taller by 2002 to 56.4 inches but gained an average of 11 pounds to 88 pounds.