Perhaps because of this, over the past 20 years the number of pedestrians has dropped by 42 percent, while the number of overweight Americans has grown by 40 percent. A Help, I need somebody. But more people than ever today are singing that tune. About 3 to 4 percent of the U.S. population, or between 8 million and 11 million people, participate in self-help groups each year. The average age of a self-help study group member is 43, and perhaps surprisingly, is more likely to be male than female.
Whites are three times as likely to participate as blacks.
Some 45.3 percent of all women own a dog or puppy, compared to 41 percent of men, according to a recent Maritz Poll. Today, there are nearly 8.5 million Americans living with an opposite-sex partner, up from 878,000 in 1960. More than 45 percent of American workers say they bring a packed lunch from home at least once a week, and 20 percent do it every day, according to a study by research firm Datamonitor. Road rage has moved indoors. Of all American workers, about 1 in 10 claims to work in an office where stress has led to physical violence, according to a survey by Integra Realty Resources.