http://blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment/archives/the_tribal_mind/006131.html
by David Dale. There is no kind way to say this, so we'll say it cruelly: fat people love House. When we say fat, we don't just mean mildly overweight. We're talking clinically obese. Obese people also love NCIS, Las Vegas, Cold Case, Medium and CSI.
Meanwhile, skinny people -- as in disturbingly underweight for their age and height -- love The Simpsons, Smallville, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and South Park. The question to ponder is why?
These connections between TV tastes and gut size were discovered by the Simmons Market Research Bureau in the course of interviewing 11,595 Americans during the first half of this year.
Simmons had clients in the advertising industry who wanted to know more about TV audiences than the usual demographic divisions by age, wealth, gender and geography. Information about viewer fatness and thinness could be useful in determining the best place to promote a new diet or exercise scheme, or to sell a nutritional supplement. So the researchers asked each survey participant for details of height and weight and correlated the resulting "body mass index" with favourite TV shows. Using standard guidelines drawn up the National Institutes of Health, Simmons was able to classify programs by what it calls "Waistband Segment" (to learn more about Simmons research, click here).
The links were many and mysterious. The audience for NCIS for example, contains 35 percent more people classified as obese than the average prime time show, while House has 27 per cent more fatties and Cold Case has 25 per cent more fatties. At the opposite end of the waistband spectrum, Smallville has twice as many underweight viewers as the average show, Family Guy has 50 per cent more skinnies and Charmed has 30 per cent more skinnies. The trends ...
Obese people watch: Numb3rs; Criminal Minds, NCIS, Las Vegas, Ghost Whisperer, House, Medium, Cold Case, CSI, Law and Order, Survivor, Crossing Jordan, My Name Is Earl, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break.
Underweight people watch: Smallville, 7th Heaven, American Dad, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Malcolm in the Middle, Friends, Charmed, South Park, America's Next Top Model.
People whose weight is normal for their age and height watch: The O.C., Sex and the City, Dr Phil, Will and Grace, Supernanny, Desperate Housewives, Veronica Mars.
And Lost is watched equally by all waistband segments.
What's cause and what's effect? Do viewers feel so relaxed watching CSI they order a double delivery of pizza, while getting so disgusted with The Simpsons they can't keep their dinner down, and becoming so inspired by the beautiful bodies in Desperate Housewives they achieve the perfect balance of eating and exercise?
This column is offering a handsome prize in a red cover for the best explanation of these weight/program correlations -- send your theory via the comment space below.
Footnote: You can calculate your Body Mass Index by dividing your weight (in kilograms) by the square of your height (in metres). For example, somebody who weighs 80 kg and is 1.6 m tall has a BMI of 31 (80 divided by 1.6 x 1.6)). The normal BMI range is between 20 and 25. Underweight is any BMI less than 18.5. Obese is any BMI over 30. OK, now compare your waistband segment with your favourite shows.
Of course, Australians are nothing like Americans. It's pure coincidence that most of America's favourite shows are also hits here, and that our proportions of obese people -- 20 per cent of the population -- and underweight people -- 2 per cent -- are close to the figures for the US. But just in case it means something, we'd love to hear your speculations on how waistbands might relate to Aussie programs: would fatties watch Border Security, skinnies watch Australian Idol, and normals watch Spicks and Specks -- or vice versa?