The Average Black Man’s Weight in America

As you probably already know, America has been facing a steady increase in obesity over the years. That’s one of the reasons that I researched this post. I was curious about where African Americans fall within this dynamic. When thinking of myself and my weight, I wondered, “What is the average black man’s weight in America?” The information in this post is a result of some of the things that I discovered along the way to finding the answer.

We all know that being healthy involves a lot of different aspects. Physical characteristics are but one segment of what it means to be healthy. And, weight is simply one segment of that. You may also be aware of the trends regarding weight that involve most all Americans. For the most part, Americans have gained weight over the past few decades. Naturally, we see the trend when we focus our gaze on the black community in particular.

So again, in this post we’ll take a look at the average black man’s weight. We cover the average weight of a black woman in America in another post.

Just how much does the average black man weigh? Of course, this is really a complex question but one I thought worthy of asking. Here’s the process that I used to get that information along with what I found.

Average Black Man’s Weight Statistics

As I did for finding data regarding black male and black female height, I found data for this post in a National Health Statistics Report. You can locate the same report at the CDC.gov website. The original data for these reports comes from actual physical examinations of survey participates. Those surveys are called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). For the report used here, there were 9 NHANES 2-year cycles beginning in 1999 and ending in 2016.

The table below shows data for the Non-Hispanic Black Male Population only.

National Health Statistics Reports

The National Health Statistics Surveys produced some great data for understanding the changes in weight of the overall population. They also identified an obvious trend regarding weight. Additionally, it confirmed many of the statements that we’ve heard about Americans becoming more obese. It makes sense that this is happening in the African American community as well.

Objectives

The NHSR illustrates trends in mean weight. Other categories included height, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI). However, they restricted the data to adults in the United States from 1999–2000 through 2015–2016.

Methods

Analysts obtained data from physical examinations. The sample nationally represented adults aged 20 and over. Surveyors gathered the data in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys during 1999–2016. Ultimately, they presented the data separately for men and women by age group, and by race. They also separated data depending upon Hispanic origin for each 2-year survey period. In the end, evaluators used linear regression to evaluate changes in weight (if any) over time.

Non-Hispanic Black Males

A Non-Hispanic black person is one having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Furthermore, those in this category have no Hispanic origin. It’s important to note that much of this is self-identification. Also, race and Hispanic origin are two separate concepts in the federal statistical system. Believe it or not, people who are Hispanic may be of any race. So, people in each race group may be either Hispanic or Not Hispanic. Therefore, each person has two attributes. One attribute is their race (or races). And, another attribute is whether or not they are Hispanic.

Average Black Man’s Weight Compared to Other Races

Research has shown that even if white and black men are the same heights and weights, they are perceived differently. Most people have a tendency to perceive black men as being taller, more muscular, and heavier than his white counterpart. Also, this feeds into their perception of averages as well. We discovered in another post, that on average, white men are slightly taller than black men. Again, that’s on average.

Survey results show that white men in America are taller on average. In fact, this was true in every year of the survey. If that surprises you, you’re not alone. It was a surprise to me too. I was sure that black men were taller on average.

Just for fun, I added the weights for every year in the black and white categories. Then, I divided by 9. There were 9 years in the survey. Here’s what I found;

• Non-Hispanic Black – 196.72 Pounds
• Non-Hispanic White – 197.53 Pounds

So, just as with height, there isn’t much difference. But, on average, the non-Hispanic white male group averaged heavier.

That too was a surprise to me. The same way that the average height surprised me.

Personally, Im over 30 lbs heavier and much taller than the average. How about you?

Peace and Blessings!