Takes

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Is Your Weight Higher Or Lower Vs. A Year Ago? You can learn all you need to know about a culture by seeing which of the seven deadly sins are severely frowned on and which are regarded indulgently. These days in our country, gluttony has eclipsed the likes of covetousness, lust and anger for the censoriousness it provokes. But, man being the sinful beast he (or she) is, this hasn't stopped millions of people from chowing down. In a nationwide survey conducted for Adweek, people were asked whether their weight is higher, lower or the same compared to a year ago. A plurality (56.5 percent) declared it to be about the same, with negligible difference between men (58 percent) and women (55 percent). But the proportion confessing to higher poundage (27 percent) easily outweighed the number boasting of lower weight (15.5 percent). Among women, "lower" edged out "higher" by a margin of 23 percent to 20 percent. That leaves men holding the grocery bag, as 34 percent of them acknowledged a weight gain and a mere 8 percent claimed a loss. Understandably, the growing boys and girls of the 18-24-year-old cohort had the highest "higher" tally, at 35 percent, followed by the 25-34s (29 percent). The 25-34s also recorded the highest "lower" figure, at 21 percent, with the 18-24s and 35-44s tying for second-place honors (15 percent). HOME, SWEET HOME: BROADENING THE CAST OF AMERICAN DREAMERS There's no more potent symbol of the American Dream than the family home. Now, a research project that simply divides the population into "ethnic" and "nonethnic" Americans finds home purchases by the ethnic cohort increased at a compound annual growth rate of 13.3 percent in the years 1985-96. For the same period, the increase for nonethnics was just 4.5 percent. Conducted jointly by Graham Gregory Bozell, Market Segment Research and DemoGraph Corp., the study finds a similar trend in educational attainment. For the period studied, the number of post-secondary degrees conferred on ethnic Americans rose at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2 percent, while the figure for nonethnics was 2.1 percent. No wonder marketers are becoming avid multiculturalists. MORE OUTPUT! WORKING OUT RANKINGS FOR AMERICAN CITIES You sense it when you travel on business, or even when you call a company in another part of the country: Some places just seem more productive than others. A study by Sprint Business attempts to quantify that impression in the form of productivity rankings for the 50 most populous metropolitan areas. Criteria include such factors as employment rates, worker training levels and output per worker by business sector. The most productive city in America? San Jose, Calif. Filling out the study's top five are Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, San Francisco, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Dallas. The "city that never sleeps" evidently is rather drowsy: New York ranks 40th on the list. But that's still better than Los Angeles, which ranks 43rd. Chicago comes in at 33rd, five notches below Boston. Atlanta is among the productivity leaders, ranking No. 7. Neither of the World Series cities is high in the standings: Cleveland ranked 39th, and Miami 47th. Norfolk-Virginia Beach was dead last on the list. Meanwhile, Beltway bashers should note that Washington, D.C., came in at a lofty No. 6 in the rankings. PHONE TAGS: DOC, CAN YOU GET THIS PIZZA OUT OF MY BOUFFANT? For those of you eager to keep up on the latest trends, it's time to let your fingers do the walking. According to a study by the Yellow Pages Publishers Association, the steepest growth in Yellow Pages listings these days is under the diving-equipment heading. The runner-up in listings growth is cellular-phone equipment, followed by collectibles, consignment services, marriage counseling, karate instruction, mailing services and pawn brokers. The Yellow Pages heading most often referenced by consumers is for physicians and surgeons, with the restaurant category a close second. (Ptomaine, anyone?) Cars, car parts and car repairs claim three slots among the top 10. Other leading categories: pizza, lawyers and beauty salons. What else does one need in this life?

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