Personally, I'd rather solve the problem with good sampling technique / statistical adjustment for sampling bias than with a larger sample size. For exactly the reasons you gave, poor sampling technique can really skew your results. The big government-run surveys (most famously the census) adjust their numbers for estimated sampling bias, because even with 67% of the population included in the final sample, you can't draw entirely accurate conclusions without some adjustment.

When I went to the doctor the other day my doctor said the average weight for my height and age is 175. I was getting closer.. it surprised the heck out of me when she pulled up my growth chart, and average growth chart.. I am almost "average"

Hahaha, I am nowhere near AVERAGE, lol. I'm a fatass.

Statisitics are just that - statistics... but numbers entertain me...

The current issue of Glamour Magazine had the following

Is your body normal?

The average woman's bra size: 36C (up from 34B just 9 years ago)
The average woman's shoe size: 8
The average woman's waist in inches around : 36.5 (they concede it's healthier to keep it under 35 inches)
Percent of women who are at least somewhat satisfied with their body weight and shape: 57

Average height in inches: 64" (that's 5'4")_
Percent of young american women who wear a size 12 dress or larger: 44 (no definition of what young equals)
Average weight, in pounds for a woman in her 20s 156.5 (the number climbs to 163 for a woman in her 30s.


~~~
So I'm quite not normal - but I knew that - my boobs are too big, my feet are too big... my waist is below average but I'm over 20lbs above the average weight for my age..

It doesn't give a lot of info about the poll sample...

Here's the thing about these averages. The population is becoming more overweight over time. This will skew the results showing higher size and weights than what "normal" is. If nearly 50% of the population is overweight then the number of people that are underweight and the number of people that are the right weight needs to divide the remaining 50% of the population. You end up with a much higher number of overweight people which pushes the average up. In fact at 5'4" and 163 lbs, the average is considered overweight. It doesn't even fall into the normal BMI range.

It just goes to show that while something is average it doesn't make it healthy. I'm afraid I don't fall into the average catagory at all, 5 inches too tall for one thing

This is a curious study. By these standards, I'm below normal in some of the categories.

I'm a white, female at age 22 and my measurements are 45-31-43. Obviously, being just an hourglass shape doesn't mean you're not overweight. Most of my weight is held in my lower stomach, hips and thighs. I'm a size 14 which puts me around average by other studies. Its concerning, overall, for humanity that we continue to grow at an exponential rate

Hopefully things like the calorie labels in New York will help a bit with that issue.

I'm "average."