US clothes sizes are out of date

The US has high obesity rates

A survey of body size has proved that Americans are getting bigger - particularly around the waist.

Researchers used a sophisticated scanner to size up more than 10,000 people in 13 US cities.

The results show nearly one in five men are "portly" and a similar number so overweight they have to look under their belly to find their waist.

Two-thirds of women were pear-shaped, and most too big for what has long been considered the standard clothing size.

This is a US size 8, and has been defined by the clothing industry as a 35-inch bust, a 27-inch waist and a 37.5-inch hip.

The survey showed that the average woman aged 18 to 25 has a 38-32-41 figure.

By the time they had reached their late thirties, the average figure for a white woman was 41-34-43 - and for a black woman 43-37-46.

Similarly, most men are larger than the traditional average, considered to be a 40-inch chest, 34-inch waist and 40-inch hip.

Even among young men aged 18 to 25, the average size recorded by the survey was a 41-inch chest, 35-inch waist, and 41-inch hips.

In the 36 to 45 age group, the average white man came in at 44-38-42, and the average black man at 43-37-42

Average weight

The survey found that the average woman was five feet four inches tall, and weighed 148 pounds.

The average man was five feet nine inches tall, and weighed 180 pounds.

Average weight for both sexes has gone up four pounds since a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1994. Average height has stayed the same.

Just over half (51%) of men and 38% of women said they thought they were about the right weight.

One in ten men, and one in five women admitted they were "quite a bit overweight".

The survey - called Size USA - was sponsored by clothing and textile companies, the Army, Navy and several universities.

It is the first time such a comprehensive exercise has been carried out since 1941 when researchers with tape measures were sent out to size up the population in anticipation of having to design military uniforms for World War II.