In the early 1990s, we were often treated to photo ops of Bill Clinton making a stop at McDonald's while jogging the streets of Washington, D.C. In this area, as in so many, our president is the quintessential American, doing his best to juggle fasting and feasting, not always successfully.

According to research commissioned by the Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1998, 38% of Americans have promised a significant other or spouse that they will lose weight at some point. Are many Americans successful in keeping these promises? Look at Table 1 below. Almost half of the American public has resolved to lose weight. Yet few are able to keep their resolution for very long. Only about a third of those who commit to dieting actually do so for more than three months.

But we can still dream (Table 2): 58% of the population would like to be thinner than they are. And that number goes up to 68% for women, while 11% of men would actually like to gain weight, and 42% of men are happy right where they are. Imagine.

And what is it about religion that makes people more weight-conscious? Especially Judaism, 71 % of whose members want to lose weight, and 0% of whom want to gain? Protestants and Catholics, too, run ahead of the unchurched population in their desire to take off the pounds. Fat Tuesday seems to be winning.