The average American woman weighs 164.7 pounds, according to the latest government measurements. Since she is only 5 feet 4 inches tall, the average woman has a body mass index of 28.4 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). This is decidedly overweight. Here is what the scales report, by age:
Women's weight by age (in pounds)
aged 20 to 29: 155.9
aged 30 to 39: 164.7
aged 40 to 49: 171.3
aged 50 to 59: 172.1
aged 60 to 69: 170.5
aged 70 to 79: 155.6
aged 80-plus: 142.2
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Anthropometric Reference Data for Children and Adults, 2003-2006 For men's weight, see table 6.
