Editorial: Taking a longer look

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.

Americans drink 10 times as much bottled water as they drank in 1980, which is a positive sign, yet they are fatter and spend a lot of time in front of the television.

This is part of the picture of Americans that is created by the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States, a tome of digits and demographics culled from an array of government sources. It shows who we are and what we prefer in a paint-by-the-numbers mosaic of facts, such as the one that shows we consumed twice as much high-fructose corn syrup in 2004 as we did in 1980.

It might not hurt more of us to get outside and exercise a little more often, especially in light of the fact that we are getting fatter and more sedentary. Last year Americans spent 3,543 hours per person watching television, listening to the radio, using the Internet and reading.

One media research consultant, whose work was cited by the Census Bureau in a story by The New York Times about the latest statistics, said that Americans' "demand for information and entertainment seems almost insatiable."

While Americans' appetite for technology has some experts pondering the societal effects of the amount of solitary time spent before a computer or TV screen, the Census Bureau figures show that the national divorce rate of 3.7 per 1,000 people is the lowest since 1970, the Times reports.

Nevada claims the highest divorce rate among states. But even its rate declined in 2004 to 6.4 dissolutions of marriage per 1,000 people, compared with 11.4 divorces per 1,000 people in 1990.

While the pages of numbers and charts don't tell the whole story, they do help illustrate how our priorities have changed. For example, Americans' thirst for bottled water, electronics and bigger houses appears to have had a measurable effect on young adults' life decisions. In 1970, 79 percent of college freshmen cited developing a meaningful life philosophy as their primary goal. Last year, the main goal of 75 percent of college freshmen was to make money.

All of these figures from the Census Bureau hold a mirror before Americans, who must decide for themselves whether they like what they see.