I read recently that 42 percent of the U.S. population has put on weight during the pandemic.
The study went on to quantify their average weight gain as 29 pounds per person. Now anyone can imagine right off that we are talking a lot of fat, but I wanted to put that in some visual context.
So here it is: First, that 42 percent of the U.S. population is about 140 million newly larger people. And at 29 pounds each, that is four billion pounds of lard. Divide by 2,000 pounds per ton and we have two million tons needing to be re-shed.
But who can visualize two million tons of belly flab? Try this: Picture your average dump truck of five ton capacity. If all that new weight were loaded in such dump trucks, it would be 400,000 truckloads. Still tough to get your brain to visualize? Well, 400,000 five-ton dump trucks of 16.5 foot length would form a solid line via Route 89, all the way from Mexico to Canada, for the entire length of the 1,250 mile route. That’s the truth; and that’s gross.
Spare us….seriously. Let’s quit eating folks; and exercise some too.
Don White
Manti
