What We Believe In

More Americans believe in the Devil (62 percent), Hell (62 percent), and angels (74 percent) than in Darwin’s theory of evolution (42 percent), a Harris Interactive online poll reports. Some 31 percent of respondents said they did not believe in evolution. In a separate question, 39 percent said they believed in creationism, 27 percent said they did not, and 34 percent said they weren’t sure. Belief in God was the strongest item in the survey. Eighty-two percent said that they believed in God, compared to 8 percent who said they did not. Source: Harris Interactive online poll, November 2007.   

'Insuring' Health

Americans’ health insurance premiums have risen in recent years, and according to a recent Harris Interactive poll, people are demanding comprehensive benefits. Large majorities of Americans believe the following things should be covered, at least in part, by health insurance: birth control pills or other birth control procedures (81percent), drugs that improve memory (65 percent), in vitro fertilization (63 percent), and weight loss drugs (59 percent). Fifty percent say Viagra should be covered, while 16 percent think insurance should cover plastic surgery and 13 percent believe it should cover drugs like Botox. Source: Harris Interactive, April 2007.

Weather Words

According to a Harris Interactive online poll, a plurality of Americans (44 percent) get their news from their local weather station, followed by 17 percent from The Weather Channel, and another 17 percent from a weather website. When asked about accuracy, 44 percent of poll respondents said the forecasts were generally accurate for the next day, 28 percent said that they were accurate for the following three days, and just 4 percent that they were accurate for the following week. Seventeen percent said they “really didn’t know” whether the forecasts were accurate. Source: Online survey conducted by Harris Interactive, November 2007.

Christmas Calories
As we prepare to overindulge over the holidays, Gallup tells us that two-thirds of Americans say they weigh more than their ideal weight. In a poll conducted by telephone, Gallup asked people what they weighed and in a separate question, what their ideal weight was. On average, Americans report weighing 17 pounds more than their ideal weight; 30 percent of women and 18 percent of men report weighing more than 20 pounds above it. Weights appeared to have increased across the board.On average, men said that they weighed 191 pounds, up from 180 when Gallup first asked the question in 1990; women said that they weighed 159 pounds, up from 142 in 1991. Source: Institute of Politics, Harvard University, October-November 2007.
 

Resolved: Lose Weight, Quit Smoking & ‘Be Better’
   At a debate in Iowa last week, Democratic presidential candidates were asked about their New Year’s resolutions. Hillary Clinton vowed to exercise more, and Barack Obama said he wanted to be a better father. Bill Richardson resolved to lose weight.
   These priorities seem to be in line with those of Americans nationwide, according to a late October-early November WNBC/Marist poll. Of the 43 percent of Americans that intend to make a New Year’s resolution, 17 percent say that they will resolve to lose weight, 17 percent to stop smoking,14 percent to “be a better person,” and 11 percent to spend less money. Nothing else was mentioned by more than 5 percent of those surveyed. Losing weight, being a better person, and quitting smoking topped the list for women; stopping smoking, spending less money, and losing weight were the resolutions most often listed by men. Of Americans who said they made a resolution last year, 60 percent said that they kept it, with more men than women reporting success. Source: WNBC/Marist, October-November 2007.