One might assume that overeating is almost invariably the chief cause of obesity. But that’s not necessarily the way people feel about their own weight. In a survey by Harris Interactive in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, 67 percent of the female respondents described themselves as overweight. Significantly fewer—43 percent—said they overeat. Of course, insufficient exercise and other factors contribute to the nation’s weight problem. In light of the poll’s findings, though, we can speculate that lots of women are in denial about the extent to which they strap on the feedbag. (The same, one suspects, is true of men.) Elsewhere in the poll, women who’d characterized themselves as merely “somewhat fit” or utterly “unfit” were asked to identify the factor most responsible for their lack of fitness. Thirty-five percent of these respondents blamed “overeating”; 26 percent cited “eating fast food.”
Read ’em and weep. The findings of a poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center show a sharp increase in the number of males age 14-22 who play cards for money. Among boys in high school, 10.8 percent played cards for money at least once a week during 2004, up from 5.7 percent the previous year. Among those in college or other post-secondary programs, 12.5 percent reported betting on cards that often, vs. 7.3 percent in 2003. Though there’s been a rise in such activity by teen girls and young women, their numbers remain small (3.3 percent of high schoolers, 2.2 percent of those in post-secondary school).
Want to own a mansion? Better get married, play golf and attend the opera. Unique Homes magazine and the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing polled people who own a home valued at $2.5 million-plus. Eighty-nine percent are married; 71 percent are golfers; 71 percent go to the theater, ballet or opera. Perhaps more to the point, 51 percent have an annual income of $1 million-plus. As for the homes, 78 percent have more than four bedrooms; 92 percent have more than four bathrooms; 84 percent include a home office. Just 19 percent have staff quarters, which may reflect how hard it is to get good servants these days.
My cell phone: good. Your cell phone: bad. In a survey by University of Michigan researchers, 83 percent of cell phone users said the technology “has made their lives easier.” However, 60 percent said other people’s use of cell phones has “disturbed or irritated them.” Forty-two percent went so far as to say they’d support a law “that prohibits people from talking on cell phones in public spaces such as museums, movies or restaurants.” The same survey also queried people about their use of computers, PDAs, VCRs, digital video players/recorders, home Internet access and so on. “One in nine Americans (11 percent of those surveyed) said they had none of the devices or access, while one in five (19 percent) had four or five.” While 11 percent said the proliferation of such technology makes them feel “overloaded,” 56 percent “liked having so much information available”; 32 percent said it doesn’t affect them either way.
Looking at the pitiful rate of newspaper readership among young adults, publishers hope it reflects what social scientists call an “age effect”—a trait that a population group will outgrow as it gets older. The emergence of the Internet as a news source has made it harder to take that view seriously. And the more recent rise of blogs as a media force has made it harder still. A Gallup poll of Internet users finds 44 percent of those age 18-29 have read blogs; 21 percent do so at least a few times a month. Thus, not only are young adults accustomed to getting news from someplace other than a paper. As blog readers, many are fans of a medium that oozes contempt for the creaky old mainstream media. Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be paperboys.
When people in Anchorage get drowsy, it’s not for lack of caffeine. In a study by The NPD Group, that Alaska city topped the list of metro areas with the most coffee shops per capita. Close behind were Seattle/Bellevue/ Everett, Wash.; San Francisco; Bellingham, Wash.; and Portland, Ore./Vancouver, Wash. Of the top 10, the only metro area not within spitting distance of the Pacific Ocean was Boulder/Longmont, Colo. While Anchorage has 2.8 coffee shops per 10,000 residents, the figure is 0.6 in the New York metropolitan area, 0.7 in Chicago and 0.7 in metropolitan Washington, D.C. Notwithstanding its left-coast location, Los Angeles/Long Beach is another coffee-shop laggard (0.8).
With spring having officially sprung, many women (and some men) are rushing to get their new spring wardrobes together. According to a survey commissioned by The Macerich Co., consumers age 12 and up will spend an average of $360 per capita on new clothes and accessories for the season. “Among adult shoppers, 31 percent say they will spend more than last year, 52 percent will spend the same, and 18 percent will spend less.” You lads who now envision sweet young things splurging on flimsy warm-weather dresses will be disappointed to learn that women in the 45-54 age bracket will be the biggest spenders ($446 each, on average). What general styles are apt to attract the biggest shares of women’s spring-wardrobe spending? The chart below offers an indication. Given a more specific menu of 10 choices and asked to say which one will be the hottest this spring, a plurality of women (27.5 percent) pointed to cropped pants/trousers. (I’m told the word “cropped” refers here to the trousers’ truncated length and not to any agricultural function.) Also scoring in double digits were floral prints (14.5 percent), embellished denim (14.4 percent) and full/ruffled skirts (13.1 percent).
Female Chowhounds, Youthful Gamblers, Etc.
