Commentator: The reported epidemic of childhood obesity in our country is a myth. ████ ███ ████ █ ██████ █████ ███ ████ █ █ █████ █████ █████████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ███████ ███████ ████ ██ ███ █ ███████████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ██████ ████ █████████ ██████████████
The argument proceeds by citing an increase in a statistical average to support a conclusion about how the increases are distributed across individuals.
Because the average weight of a child has only increased slightly, the author concludes that there must not be a substantial increase in the percentage of children who are obese.
The argument assumes that a small change in average weight means there hasn’t been a big increase in the percentage of children who are obese. However, this represents a misunderstanding of how averages work. A change in the statistical average does not necessarily reflect how weight changes are distributed across individuals. Even if the average weight only goes up a little, the number of obese children could still increase a lot.
For example, if 1% of children were obese before and now 3% are, then the proportion of obese kids tripled—even if the average weight barely changed.
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