What’s the Average Weight for Women?
The average weight of women varies widely from country to country, but it is generally considered to be around 100 pounds (45 kilograms) or less. This figure includes both men and women, although most studies have focused on women. For example, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which maintains statistics on food consumption in America, reports that the average American woman weighs 166 pounds (79 kg). The USDA report goes on to say that the average weight of a man is 170 pounds (77 kg).
In addition, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) conducts research into mortality rates and other topics related to health issues. They estimate that in 2007 there were approximately 1 million deaths among adults aged 20 years or older in the U.S., with over half of these being due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes mellitus type 2 and unintentional injuries. These numbers include all causes of death, not just those caused by heart disease, cancer and stroke.
The NCHS estimates that the average adult male weighs 175 pounds (80 kg); the average female weighs 158 pounds (70 kg).
Weight is one factor that influences how long someone lives. Another factor is height; taller individuals tend to live longer than shorter ones. It is believed that shorter people have a higher risk of heart disease due to the increased workload on the heart to pump blood to organs and tissues higher up, and they are more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases because their lungs do not have as much breathing capacity.
The answers vary widely between studies, but it has been claimed that Asian women tend to weigh less than women of other races. With Asian men, there is a similar difference. On the low end of the spectrum, there are reports that both Asian men and women weigh less than 150 pounds. In addition, Asian people in general grow shorter than members of other races.
It is not only Asians who weigh less than members of other races; it is true among all humans that people living at higher altitudes weigh less than people living at lower altitudes. The reason for this is that the lower oxygen levels at higher altitudes naturally result in lower body weights. In fact, babies who suffer from birth asphyxia are often moved to higher altitudes for treatment because their bodies respond better to lower oxygen levels.
A Brief History of Weight
Because the human body has been around for so long, there are many recorded instances of people weighing themselves on scales. One of the earliest known descriptions of a scale dates back to 2700 B.C. in the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India. The scale was made of brass and was mainly used for weighing precious stones and metals.
When the ancient Greeks began to form their own civilization, they started doing a lot of thinking about weight. In fact, many important figures in ancient Greek society thought about weight, including the mathematician Thales of Miletus (600 B.C.) and the philosopher Aristotle (400 B.C.).
It is said that Thales, who was very interested in science and nature, invented a scale for weighing objects by using the principle of balance in order to accurately quantify weight.
Aristotle was also interested in the concept of balance. One of his works, “Physics”, concerned itself with trying to understand the concept of balance in nature, including the movement of planet Earth and the human body.
In 200 B.C. the earliest known medical scale was invented by the Romans. The scale was called a “bilance” and was used in hospitals and asylums across ancient Roman society. The balance was used to weigh a number of objects, including human brains.
In medieval England, scales were mainly used for weighing gold, silver, and other precious metals. The concept of using a scale to weigh humans did not appear until the mid-1600’s. In 1664, a physician by the name of John Haygarth created a scale that was primarily used for weighing people and was called the “blessed scale”.
Of course, since people have been around for so long, it is safe to assume that some sort of primitive version of a scale was probably around, but not many records exist about these scales. The first accurate and reliable scales date back to the years I have mentioned.
The Scale Today
Today, scales can be found in most homes. Even discount stores like Wal-Mart have their own brands of home scales. In addition to the common home scale, doctors also use scales to measure a patient’s weight.
These special scales are called physician or diagnostic scales and usually consist of a sturdy wood base with a balance beam connected to a pole, called a steelyard.
In this case, the word “steelyard” is used rather than “scale” because it actually consists of two arms connected at one end by a hinge or pivot, with the other ends of the arms ending in pans. The pivoted arm is called the balance arms while the arms connected to the pans are called the trays or sometimes poises.
Two trays are connected to the steelyard and are positioned at both ends of the balance beam.
The weight of the object to be measured is placed in one of the trays, while the opposite tray hangs freely.
The difference in the heft of the tray, with the object on one side and open space on the other, causes a bend in the beam that can be read by looking at markings on the steelyard.
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