Overeating or overshopping? Gallup poll reveals this holiday’s heavy hitters

NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller sits down for his weekly conversation with Gallup’s Frank Newport to talk about trends in U.S. opinion.

Here are this week’s topics.

Many of us are feeling guilty today after having overeaten at the Thanksgiving table yesterday — and in fact, maybe we should.

Our latest data show one of the biggest discrepancies is between “ideal weight for me” and “my actual weight” that we have measured in Gallup’s history — particularly for women. There is now a gap of 23 pounds between women’s ideal and actual body weight. For men, it’s about 12 pounds.

Meanwhile, 56 percent of Americans say they would like to lose weight but only four out of 10 Americans define themselves as overweight and just 24 percent of men and 29 percent of women are actively trying to lose weight.

Many Americans will be sitting at home on this Black Friday, apparently, shopping online. Our latest update forecasts a robust holiday spending season, one of the best in years in terms of dollars spent. To be specific, the average American will be spending $862 on Christmas presents.

To hear the full conversation, listen to the audio above.