Weight of the world

Forget looking at the Weight of the Nation. How about the weight of the world?

According to data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations, the entire adult population of the world weighs about 316 million tons (or about 633 billion pounds).

About 16.5 million tons of that weight is due to large waistlines. That extra weight equals about 242 million people of normal weight – or roughly the entire population of Indonesia, as Time pointed out.

And, of course, much of the world’s excess weight is found in the U.S.

The average weight of an adult anywhere in the world is about 137 pounds, according to the Time article. But the average weight of an American adult is 178 pounds.

Another disturbing factoid: While North America makes up only 6 percent of the world’s population, it accounts for 34 percent of the world’s weight due to obesity.

Let that really sink it – 34 percent of the world’s weight due to obesity is in the U.S.

If that’s not startling, consider looking at Asia.

Asia makes up 61 percent of the world’s population but is only 13 percent of its weight due to obesity.