Explanation and Documentation of the Fat Clock

The Fat Clock is designed to illustrate the escalating weight of American adults ages 20 and above. 

The calculations for the Fat Clock were derived from data provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Census. 

To determine the weight of the “average” American, weight data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention[1] was analyzed. 

This data indicated that men and women had a combined average weight of 167.2 lbs by 1994, and this average grew to 176.4 pounds by 2002.  Assuming a steady linear trend of weight gain over time, Americans appeared to have gained an average of 1.15 pounds per year from 1994 to 2002. 

The average adult American weight at the beginning of 2006 was calculated by multiplying the 1.15 pounds per year of weight gain by three years (2003, 2004, and 2005) and adding it to the 2002 average weight.  Given this extrapolation, the approximate average adult American weight at the beginning of 2006 was calculated to be 179.85 pounds.

Using extrapolated data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Population clock,[2] it was estimated that there were approximately 297,534,032 Americans at the beginning of 2006.  The US population has a net gain of approximately 1 person per every 10 seconds, or .01 people per tenth of a second.  US Census data indicated that in 2005, 72.42 % percent of the population was ages 20 years and above.[3] 

Due to constant fluctuations in the US population rate, the rate of weight increase is dynamic, not static.  Given the numbers calculated above, the approximate weight of adult Americans can be calculated to the 10^th of a second at any point after January 1, 2006 using the following formula:

[(0.7242(297,534,032 + .01 * X1)) 179.85] + [((0.7242(297,534,032 + .01 * X1)) 1.15) / 315569260] X1

Where:

.7242 = percentage of population 20 and older
297,534,032 = total estimated number of people on January 1, 2006
.01 = net person increase per tenth of a second
X1 = number of tenths of seconds elapsed since January 1, 2006
179.85 = average estimated weight of adult Americans in 2006
1.15 = average estimated weight gain per year per adult
315569260 = tenths of a second per year

Using this formula, a starting weight of 39,161,685,285 was calculated for August 15, 2006.  The variable “X1” was set at 195,264,000 (864,000 tenths of a second in a day * 226 days elapsed since January 1, 2006).

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