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The Average American Man Is Too Fat for Universal’s New Mario Kart Ride

51 points by clouddrover 4y ago

gnicholas 4y ago
It's hard to make a ride that fits both skinny kids and large adults. It's tricky because kids are usually let on if they're at least x inches tall, but that doesn't factor in if they're so skinny that they'll be at risk of slipping out. As a kid, I had several experiences where I think I could have fallen out of a ride if I hadn't actively pushed down on the bar and pinned my legs in a wide stance. Now that my daughter is getting to be the height where she can ride upside-down rides, I'm going to caution her that she needs to be aware that being tall enough isn't always enough, and to be cognizant of whether the bar comes down securely across her (very skinny) body.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  The article says it's a slow VR ride, though, so doesn't sound like you'd have the same concerns as, say, a roller coaster or log flume ride.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- josephcsible 4y ago
  > It's hard to make a ride that fits both skinny kids and large adults. Accepting this as true (which seems reasonable), the outcome here seems like the right one. After all, society shouldn't cater to people who make poor lifestyle choices at the expense of people who make good lifestyle choices.
  - amanaplanacanal 4y ago
    It likely had nothing to do with lifestyle choices, and more to do with who their target audience is.
hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
Wow, the linked CDC page in the article says the average American male over age 20 is 5'9" and 200 lbs. That gives a BMI of 29.5, while obesity is defined as >30. Pretty amazing.
- elromulous 4y ago
  But also BMI is a crap metric, since it doesn't account for percent fat / muscle.
  - hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
    BMI may be a crap metric for individuals, but not for large population samples. I guarantee you that nearly half of American men aren't at obese-level BMIs because bodybuilders are somehow making a dent in the numbers.
    - jdeisenberg 4y ago
      Some interesting information about the BMI in this opinion piece: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268... (Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus)
      - bihla 4y ago
        In case I can save anyone a click, there isn’t a single sentence of that article worth reading. The author simply fails to understand that BMI is a helpful indicator for population metrics, and contorts into crazy positions to fill out a “top 10” list
      - hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
        Sorry, I think pretty much all those reasons are bogus. Yes, 100% agree that, as I said, it isn't a good metric for individuals, and I also agree that the actual calculation is weird - at the end of the day it's still just a ratio of height to weight. But all of this nonsense nitpicking about bone density vs muscle vs fat is irrelevant when using it to look at large population cohorts over time. Looking at weight vs height is a good, easily calculable metric without needing to put everyone in a float tank. The US BMI has skyrocketed over the past 50 years solely because we've gotten a ton fatter. There have also been plenty of corroborating studies that we've also gotten a ton weaker, e.g. studies that look at average grip strength.
ianburrell 4y ago
Another example of confusing mean and median. The CDC is reporting the mean waist size. But the article talks about the “average man” and “most men” wouldn’t fit. That is the median. Waist may be normal distribution like height which means they are close. But I think the distribution may be unbalanced with limit on low weight but none on high.
- benatkin 4y ago
  I don't see an issue. The headline says average and that normally means mean, not median. It also doesn't say that half of people are excluded from it. People reading the article are used to hearing about the average household credit card debt in the USA, and that's also the mean. Edit: I missed the most men part. Other than that it's fine. That would be like if those credit card debt stories said that "most households have more than $7000 in credit card debt" if the average household credit card debt was found to be $7,486 like it was earlier this year: https://thehill.com/finance/3821799-a-growing-number-of-americans-face-potentially-crippling-credit-card-debt/#:~:text=A%20survey%20by%20NerdWallet%2C%20the,%2410%2C000%20in%20credit%2Dcard%20debt https://thehill.com/finance/3821799-a-growing-number-of-amer.... That would sound wrong to me, and it is.
  - Semaphor 4y ago
    That’s exactly it. The average gets pulled out of proportion by outliers, so there’s a good chance that far more than 50% of US American man can ride it.
    - benatkin 4y ago
      It isn't getting skewed, it is simply being different than the median. Very common in statistics.
      - Semaphor 4y ago
        What?
xyzelement 4y ago
Damn, and our penises are concerning large. [0] [0] https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article272527803.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation...
JesusLovesEwe 4y ago
[flagged]
paulpauper 4y ago
The Mario Kart ride restricts anyone with a 40 inch waist or larger from riding. According to the CDC, the average American man's waist is 40.5 inches, which means most American men would be excluded from the ride. The average American woman's waist is 38.7 inches. wtf. I remember being a 38 and that was pretty big and fat. I am now down to a 31. The obesity situation is worse than I thought. I wonder where the limit is? How much bigger will people get? A lot of engineering is based on the assumption that most humans fit within a certain distribution of weight, having to constantly raise this mean incurs many unforeseen costs and consequences.
- swatcoder 4y ago
  Not to take away from your shock or from congratulations on your transformation, but I suspect you’re talking about pant sizing and the article is talking about actual waist measurement. Fashion sizing is notoriously generous and no longer reflects real/tailor measurements. The off-the-rack pants labeled as 32 or 36 or 40 are almost never reflective of an actual tailor’s measurement anymore. They’re essentially just the comfortable size for people who identify with that number and are often quite a bit larger than they used to be.
  - dghughes 4y ago
    Although I prefer actual units be used instead of vague small, medium, large sizes for clothes and or barelycorns for shoe size. Just give me metric units!
  - amanaplanacanal 4y ago
    Most pants sit way below the waist, though. Pants labeled 38 might fit just fine on someone with a 38 waist even though the actual measurement of the pants is larger, because they are sitting far down on the hips.
    - swatcoder 4y ago
      Sure, but the numbers aren’t true to that either. It’s called vanity sizing and it’s been around for decades. It’s not even a crazy thing. People just want a way to know what to buy at the store, so the numbers are more a matter of tradition than anything. “34” people like to buy “34” or are maybe comfortable moving on to “36” or “38” as they age and willfully let themselves go. Regardless of where fashion has the waistline fall this year, or how bodies are transforming, the product strategy involves putting the right number on the right fit.
oatmeal_croc 4y ago
"The average American man's waist is 40.5 inches, which means most American men would be excluded from the ride. The average American woman's waist is 38.7 inches." I am in disbelief, I'm pretty obese but looks like I'm under the mean.
- TheFattestNinja 4y ago
  To me is the opposite: like i know im obese and working on it, but my waist at the belly button is about 120cm and I have never found a seat I dont fit in. And I fly Ryanair all the time.
orionblastar 4y ago
I remember the St. Louis Six Flags Batman The Ride and I was too big to fit into it. I dieted and exercised until I lost a lot of weight so I could fit into it. Most of these rides are made for teenagers and are thus smaller than the adult sizes.

51 points by clouddrover 4y ago

It's hard to make a ride that fits both skinny kids and large adults. It's tricky because kids are usually let on if they're at least x inches tall, but that doesn't factor in if they're so skinny that they'll be at risk of slipping out. As a kid, I had several experiences where I think I could have fallen out of a ride if I hadn't actively pushed down on the bar and pinned my legs in a wide stance. Now that my daughter is getting to be the height where she can ride upside-down rides, I'm going to caution her that she needs to be aware that being tall enough isn't always enough, and to be cognizant of whether the bar comes down securely across her (very skinny) body.

hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
The article says it's a slow VR ride, though, so doesn't sound like you'd have the same concerns as, say, a roller coaster or log flume ride.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
josephcsible 4y ago
> It's hard to make a ride that fits both skinny kids and large adults. Accepting this as true (which seems reasonable), the outcome here seems like the right one. After all, society shouldn't cater to people who make poor lifestyle choices at the expense of people who make good lifestyle choices.
- amanaplanacanal 4y ago
  It likely had nothing to do with lifestyle choices, and more to do with who their target audience is.

hn_throwaway_99 4y ago

Wow, the linked CDC page in the article says the average American male over age 20 is 5'9" and 200 lbs. That gives a BMI of 29.5, while obesity is defined as >30. Pretty amazing.

elromulous 4y ago
But also BMI is a crap metric, since it doesn't account for percent fat / muscle.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  BMI may be a crap metric for individuals, but not for large population samples. I guarantee you that nearly half of American men aren't at obese-level BMIs because bodybuilders are somehow making a dent in the numbers.
  - jdeisenberg 4y ago
    Some interesting information about the BMI in this opinion piece: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268... (Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus)
    - bihla 4y ago
      In case I can save anyone a click, there isn’t a single sentence of that article worth reading. The author simply fails to understand that BMI is a helpful indicator for population metrics, and contorts into crazy positions to fill out a “top 10” list
    - hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
      Sorry, I think pretty much all those reasons are bogus. Yes, 100% agree that, as I said, it isn't a good metric for individuals, and I also agree that the actual calculation is weird - at the end of the day it's still just a ratio of height to weight. But all of this nonsense nitpicking about bone density vs muscle vs fat is irrelevant when using it to look at large population cohorts over time. Looking at weight vs height is a good, easily calculable metric without needing to put everyone in a float tank. The US BMI has skyrocketed over the past 50 years solely because we've gotten a ton fatter. There have also been plenty of corroborating studies that we've also gotten a ton weaker, e.g. studies that look at average grip strength.

ianburrell 4y ago

Another example of confusing mean and median. The CDC is reporting the mean waist size. But the article talks about the “average man” and “most men” wouldn’t fit. That is the median. Waist may be normal distribution like height which means they are close. But I think the distribution may be unbalanced with limit on low weight but none on high.

benatkin 4y ago
I don't see an issue. The headline says average and that normally means mean, not median. It also doesn't say that half of people are excluded from it. People reading the article are used to hearing about the average household credit card debt in the USA, and that's also the mean. Edit: I missed the most men part. Other than that it's fine. That would be like if those credit card debt stories said that "most households have more than $7000 in credit card debt" if the average household credit card debt was found to be $7,486 like it was earlier this year: https://thehill.com/finance/3821799-a-growing-number-of-americans-face-potentially-crippling-credit-card-debt/#:~:text=A%20survey%20by%20NerdWallet%2C%20the,%2410%2C000%20in%20credit%2Dcard%20debt https://thehill.com/finance/3821799-a-growing-number-of-amer.... That would sound wrong to me, and it is.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  That’s exactly it. The average gets pulled out of proportion by outliers, so there’s a good chance that far more than 50% of US American man can ride it.
  - benatkin 4y ago
    It isn't getting skewed, it is simply being different than the median. Very common in statistics.
    - Semaphor 4y ago
      What?

xyzelement 4y ago

Damn, and our penises are concerning large. [0] [0] https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article272527803.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation...

JesusLovesEwe 4y ago

[flagged]

paulpauper 4y ago

The Mario Kart ride restricts anyone with a 40 inch waist or larger from riding. According to the CDC, the average American man's waist is 40.5 inches, which means most American men would be excluded from the ride. The average American woman's waist is 38.7 inches. wtf. I remember being a 38 and that was pretty big and fat. I am now down to a 31. The obesity situation is worse than I thought. I wonder where the limit is? How much bigger will people get? A lot of engineering is based on the assumption that most humans fit within a certain distribution of weight, having to constantly raise this mean incurs many unforeseen costs and consequences.

swatcoder 4y ago
Not to take away from your shock or from congratulations on your transformation, but I suspect you’re talking about pant sizing and the article is talking about actual waist measurement. Fashion sizing is notoriously generous and no longer reflects real/tailor measurements. The off-the-rack pants labeled as 32 or 36 or 40 are almost never reflective of an actual tailor’s measurement anymore. They’re essentially just the comfortable size for people who identify with that number and are often quite a bit larger than they used to be.
- dghughes 4y ago
  Although I prefer actual units be used instead of vague small, medium, large sizes for clothes and or barelycorns for shoe size. Just give me metric units!
- amanaplanacanal 4y ago
  Most pants sit way below the waist, though. Pants labeled 38 might fit just fine on someone with a 38 waist even though the actual measurement of the pants is larger, because they are sitting far down on the hips.
  - swatcoder 4y ago
    Sure, but the numbers aren’t true to that either. It’s called vanity sizing and it’s been around for decades. It’s not even a crazy thing. People just want a way to know what to buy at the store, so the numbers are more a matter of tradition than anything. “34” people like to buy “34” or are maybe comfortable moving on to “36” or “38” as they age and willfully let themselves go. Regardless of where fashion has the waistline fall this year, or how bodies are transforming, the product strategy involves putting the right number on the right fit.

oatmeal_croc 4y ago

"The average American man's waist is 40.5 inches, which means most American men would be excluded from the ride. The average American woman's waist is 38.7 inches." I am in disbelief, I'm pretty obese but looks like I'm under the mean.

TheFattestNinja 4y ago
To me is the opposite: like i know im obese and working on it, but my waist at the belly button is about 120cm and I have never found a seat I dont fit in. And I fly Ryanair all the time.

orionblastar 4y ago

I remember the St. Louis Six Flags Batman The Ride and I was too big to fit into it. I dieted and exercised until I lost a lot of weight so I could fit into it. Most of these rides are made for teenagers and are thus smaller than the adult sizes.