[pw0ncakes]

People here are exaggerating the fatness of the average American. Yes, obesity is an unsightly problem, but the man in that photo would still be a stand-out today-- just less of one. Instead of being someone we'd only see in a circus, he's the noticeably obese fat guy in the line at McDonalds.

He's definitely not sideshow-freak material today, but he'd definitely be the fattest person on an average subway car. I'd eyeball him at 350-400 pounds.

Also, one thing to keep in mind regarding the rightward tail is that, once you cross into the 400+ pound range, you're at constant risk of weight-related death, regardless of age. We can now keep people at that weight alive into their 50s and 60s at 500+ pounds. A hundred years ago, most of them would have died long before getting to the "circus-worthy" range (700+) today.

[smallblacksun]

You also have to remember that the guidelines for what is considered obese was changed in 1998. It changed 30 million people from being considered normal weight to obese.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/guideposts/fitnes...

[ajscherer]

Those 30 million people were reclassified from normal to overweight. People with BMIs between 30 and 31.9 would've been reclassified from overweight to obese, but I see no indication that there were 30 million of them.

[nandemo]

He's definitely not sideshow-freak material today, but he'd definitely be the fattest person on an average subway car.

I don't get your point. He might be the fattest in a subway car, but the point is that there's another like him in just about every subway car.

One hundred years ago the fat guy was (say) 1 in a 100_000; nowadays it is 1 in 100.