Why were people so skinny in the 70s and 80s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Less food around. More smoking. More shame for being fat. Also a lot of the 60s/70s food was disgusting. Bacon jello casserole? Ugh.

All of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have pans from my grandmother. The casserole pans now look like single serving pans. They fit one potato and a little milk but back then were used to feed 7 people for dinner.

They all just ate a lot less and moved a lot more.

That's interesting? If they made a casserole, what else would they eat it with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Less food around. More smoking. More shame for being fat. Also a lot of the 60s/70s food was disgusting. Bacon jello casserole? Ugh.

All of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of ideas out there but we actually don’t really know.

“ A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

This. It could be the rise of obesogens - things like BPA and phthalates that are pervasive in the environment and in our bodies. You can thank the chemical lobby and money in politics for not protecting us from these poisons. U.S. women's breast milk contains more chemicals compared to European mothers. In Europe chemicals have to be proven safe instead of proven harmful like here. Some of these chemicals may cause epigenetic changes in metabolism across generations.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/13/pfas-forever-chemicals-breast-milk-us-study

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/toxic-breast-milk.html

When European scientists first saw the test results of American women, they thought there must be a mistake. Our levels were 10 to 100 times higher than those of women in Europe and Japan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our lifestyle didn't so closely resemble Wall-E characters. Suburban living with a desk job is basically this, it's disturbing AF.

People in the 70s and 80s lived in the suburbs and had desk jobs

But we didn't spend all our free time on our iphones. Kids played outside ALL DAY and that kind of activity sets the stage for a healthy weight adult. And adults would get up from their desk to talk to colleagues instead of sitting on email all day long. I'm sure there were still plenty of sedentary people back then, but it's far less than now. That and portion sizes are huge contributing factors.

You are right about kids being more physically active in the past. Now, most kids are sitting in front of computers... and we end up with fat teens... that is naturally going to stack the deck to being fatter in adulthood on a national scale.

You take away the activity when they are kids, then they are fatter as 20 yr olds. They sit at desk jobs from 20-65, and soothe themselves (whether lonely, bored, stressed) with food/drink, and put them in an environment where 75% of the other people are overweight or obese --- voila! People get fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You mean, why were people in the normal BMI range, contrary to now, when two thirds of adults are overweight or obese?

Because there wasn't as much junk food back then. People cooked more from scratch, and their parents had fed them normal portions, not ginormous portions, so they'd grown up knowing how much food is normal.

Today, most children in the US grow up with no knowledge of what a normal portion should look like, and perhaps no knowledge of how many meals to consume a day, and even what constitutes a meal, since adults around them are snacking all day, and encouraging them to snack. Junk food occupies the majority of most supermarket aisles, and some of it is less expensive and easier to prepare and eat than healthy carbs and vegetables. We are in a diabetes and cardiovascular disease epidemic, and every taxpayer pays the burden of their, and other people's, bad eating choices.

That was not my experience, growing up in the 70s and 80s. Tons of processed food - more than today, perhaps - and we ate out plenty.

I don't know why people were skinnier. I'm not even sure that people were skinnier or if it's just selective memories. We knew big people and small people back then, just like now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think chemicals (hormones, preservatives, etc.) play a big part. I’ve lived for 6 months to 2 years in other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia and I always lost 10lbs within the first few months and it stayed off until I move back to the US (and I’m already thin). I ate more food but just lost weight effortlessly without exercising (although I walked a little more, not much since I’m in Dc and take public transportation). In the US, I have to diet and exercise to see any change but it’s hard to maintain and I’m hungry. I know there are other reasons but that’s something I believe based off personal experience and friends.

Same. Every time I live abroad, I drop about 10-20 lbs without effort. And what is even weirder, my appetite is naturally depressed. I am hungrier when I am in the US.

I think it is antibiotics in the food supply. We have killed off our healthy gut bacteria that co-evolved with us for thousands of years. What's left craves and feeds on sugars, and drives appetite.

And antibiotics are prescribed at the drop of a hat. I've really pressed my doctors about antibiotic use and they sometimes back off, but I've still had antibiotic eye drops, and a couple more rounds of antibiotics over a 2 year period. And my issues were not resolved - if anything they got worse and other issues have cropped up, probably due to the shift in gut bacteria.

[Anonymous]

The women dieted all the time. The food wasn’t good either! Lots of roasts and potatoes, and plain sandwiches. There wasn’t a foodie culture like now. Eating wasn’t an activity, it was for sustenance. They did other things for activities - parties and socializing, dating, flirting, working etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of ideas out there but we actually don’t really know.

“ A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

This. It could be the rise of obesogens - things like BPA and phthalates that are pervasive in the environment and in our bodies. You can thank the chemical lobby and money in politics for not protecting us from these poisons. U.S. women's breast milk contains more chemicals compared to European mothers. In Europe chemicals have to be proven safe instead of proven harmful like here. Some of these chemicals may cause epigenetic changes in metabolism across generations.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/13/pfas-forever-chemicals-breast-milk-us-study

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/toxic-breast-milk.html

When European scientists first saw the test results of American women, they thought there must be a mistake. Our levels were 10 to 100 times higher than those of women in Europe and Japan.

This is really interesting. Does anyone know a resource - maybe a list - to easily decipher substances that are banned in the EU but are allowed in the US? I know about EWG but I'm interested in following more stringently regulated countries' standards. Would love to double check my cosmetic/hygiene products as well as frozen food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of ideas out there but we actually don’t really know.

“ A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

This. It could be the rise of obesogens - things like BPA and phthalates that are pervasive in the environment and in our bodies. You can thank the chemical lobby and money in politics for not protecting us from these poisons. U.S. women's breast milk contains more chemicals compared to European mothers. In Europe chemicals have to be proven safe instead of proven harmful like here. Some of these chemicals may cause epigenetic changes in metabolism across generations.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/13/pfas-forever-chemicals-breast-milk-us-study

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/toxic-breast-milk.html

When European scientists first saw the test results of American women, they thought there must be a mistake. Our levels were 10 to 100 times higher than those of women in Europe and Japan.

I also wonder if some of this is based on our consumerism and disposable culture? I'm guessing overall we Americans are more likely to drink out of plastic lined disposable cups daily, eat processed and remade meals wrapped and cooked in plastic and made with additives, and buy random Chinese stickers and toys for our kids very frequently. I know I'm guilty of running out to the dollar store to buy little toys for plane rides.
This is really interesting. Does anyone know a resource - maybe a list - to easily decipher substances that are banned in the EU but are allowed in the US? I know about EWG but I'm interested in following more stringently regulated countries' standards. Would love to double check my cosmetic/hygiene products as well as frozen food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of ideas out there but we actually don’t really know.

“ A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s/407974/

This. It could be the rise of obesogens - things like BPA and phthalates that are pervasive in the environment and in our bodies. You can thank the chemical lobby and money in politics for not protecting us from these poisons. U.S. women's breast milk contains more chemicals compared to European mothers. In Europe chemicals have to be proven safe instead of proven harmful like here. Some of these chemicals may cause epigenetic changes in metabolism across generations.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/13/pfas-forever-chemicals-breast-milk-us-study

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/toxic-breast-milk.html

When European scientists first saw the test results of American women, they thought there must be a mistake. Our levels were 10 to 100 times higher than those of women in Europe and Japan.

I also wonder if some of this is based on our consumerism and disposable culture? I'm guessing overall we Americans are more likely to drink out of plastic lined disposable cups daily, eat processed and remade meals wrapped and cooked in plastic and made with additives, and buy random Chinese stickers and toys for our kids very frequently. I know I'm guilty of running out to the dollar store to buy little toys for plane rides.
This is really interesting. Does anyone know a resource - maybe a list - to easily decipher substances that are banned in the EU but are allowed in the US? I know about EWG but I'm interested in following more stringently regulated countries' standards. Would love to double check my cosmetic/hygiene products as well as frozen food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Availability of liquid calories and snacks is so much different now than it was in the 70s and 80s. The marketing is subversive, too. "Healthy" juices and smoothies that add extra calories and more grams of sugar than is recommended in a whole day. Entire aisles in the supermarket devoted to whole grain snacks, superfoods, etc. that from a macros perspective are no different than a bag of chips. Daily starbucks runs (my parents drank black coffee, maybe some cream and a couple cubes of sugar. Think of how many people now habitually consume take-out coffee drinks instead.) Add to that better accessibility to more food in general OR less accessibility to quality foods.

You must not have been around in the 70s and 80s. There was tons of soda, fruit juice, "fruit" juice (like Sunny D), Hawaiian Punch, Capri Sun, you name it. Starbucks didn't exist but we had plenty of junk to fill us up, even in the ye olde times. And plenty of weird diets, too.

I think you're all looking back with skinny-colored glasses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know folks. I was around in the 80s and I ate tons of snacks, lots of candy and junk food, and we watched TV all the time. Cable became a thing in the 80s. And yes, we ate at home a lot but a lot of that food was heavily processed. Lots of casseroles from recipes on the back of a soup can, lots of freezer meals, etc. And I had a SAHM. My own child eats better and watches way less television than I did at her age. And it's not an SES thing -- my parents were/are a higher SES than my DH and I are.

I still agree that processed foods and lack of exercise is a big part of it, but I'm not sure television is the culprit. I think it's stress. I think families are stressed, parents are stressed, kids are stressed. I think everyone numbs with whatever is handy, whether that's fatty foods or television or video games or the internet. I think we're all trying to make the day to day as tolerable as possible because the long term feels worse than ever. And so much is expected of us. Kids in the 70s and 80s just went to school, maybe did one or two activities, tops. Yes, there were fewer dual-income parents, because it was possible to own a home and send your kids to decent schools without a second income. And if you did own a home and your kids were doing okay in school (which could mean straight Bs, that was fine and most people didn't freak out about that), you were considered successful even if you worked a blue collar job and never took a vacation that required an airplane.

Being middle class in the 70s and 80s was nice. Even for POC who were experiencing more racism, being middle class was pretty nice. It was a sustainable lifestyle that felt meaningful (kids, work) but also included a decent amount of leisure time and family time.

I don't know what the heck we're doing now. It seems terrible. I think it's hard to "eat your veggies" and get some exercise when you are exhausted and stressed out and feel like no matter what you do or how hard you try, you'll never have enough money to retire on, you'll never be able to afford college for your kids, and you are one medical emergency away from financial ruin.



I think it's stress and everything else (overeating, processed and heavy foods, lack of exercise, overwork, etc.) goes back to that.

Regarding "eat your veggies" - the veggies we are eating now are veggie chips and puffs, smoothies, bagged salads that have been in the refrigerator case fora. week... etc. We aren't eating out of grandma's garden.

But we weren't eating out of "grandma's garden" in the 70s and 80s either. Were you around back then? My mom's idea of a salad in the 70s and 80s was iceberg lettuce, cucumber slices, some carrot shavings, and ranch dressing. Almost all of our other vegetables came from cans. And supply chains were different back then so you couldn't get fruit as easily year round as you can now, especially not if you grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere like I did.

People have been eating heavily processed foods since the 50s. A lot of people when I was a kid blamed microwaves for ushering in an era of terrible nutrition. And, yes, working women. None of this is new. At all. You are all rehashing an argument that has been around for almost a century as though it's a recent problem with recent causes.

I guess I associate the iceberg lettuce / canned vegetable thing with the white midwest. Was this widespread throughout the US, including the coasts, until the California eating movement? I grew up on the coasts in the 80s in small towns and cities and we ate plenty of fresh food. I live in the midwest now where DH's family is and they do indeed eat canned vegetables. I live in a major "urbane" suburb and it is hard to find a salad that isn't mostly iceberg lettuce.

I grew up in New England and it was hard to get vegetables there, too. I was a young vegetarian and I have no idea what I actually ate, thinking back. Lots of bread, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People were sizable in the 70s and 80s if they didn't smoke. They just weren't SUPER sized. That was too shameful, so people didn't get to that level, or if they did, they stayed inside or were given "nicknames" that shamed them.

And I agree about people not sitting at desks for as long as we do now, not eating out as much, certainly much less fast food.

Overall, I think people were more socially interacting -- IN PERSON -- so you went to the chuch ladies meeting or the Elks club or the social card games and you saw other people who were size 8-12 (for women) and that was where you set your expectations. Some of the influence was passive (not actually shaming), just the expectations women and men gleaned from being around other people... because people actually WERE AROUND OTHER PEOPLE socially.

I think a large part of why people are overweight now is that they are using food to comfort themselves when they are bored (at work, often) or they are stressed by the job or the hours -- and people need something to boost their mood -- so it's a cookie or a latte to push through the day. And that adds up day after day and week after week.

And then we see a lot more people getting portly -- and that becomes our normal.

Social norming is definitely a thing.

Something I haven't seen anyone else mention in this thread is that so much more is automated now.
- car windows (then) winding cranks vs. (now) electronic button
- car steering (then) manual vs. (now) automatic
- tv channel changes (then) kid runs to turn the knob on the tv vs. (now) remote
- lawn mowers (then) basic push mower vs. (now) power drive
etc. etc.

Not many calories used in each, but a couple of calories extra used many times every day adds up. Obviously this would not be one of the main contributors, and there are many, many things contributing to our current obesity epidemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People were sizable in the 70s and 80s if they didn't smoke. They just weren't SUPER sized. That was too shameful, so people didn't get to that level, or if they did, they stayed inside or were given "nicknames" that shamed them.

And I agree about people not sitting at desks for as long as we do now, not eating out as much, certainly much less fast food.

Overall, I think people were more socially interacting -- IN PERSON -- so you went to the chuch ladies meeting or the Elks club or the social card games and you saw other people who were size 8-12 (for women) and that was where you set your expectations. Some of the influence was passive (not actually shaming), just the expectations women and men gleaned from being around other people... because people actually WERE AROUND OTHER PEOPLE socially.

I think a large part of why people are overweight now is that they are using food to comfort themselves when they are bored (at work, often) or they are stressed by the job or the hours -- and people need something to boost their mood -- so it's a cookie or a latte to push through the day. And that adds up day after day and week after week.

And then we see a lot more people getting portly -- and that becomes our normal.

Social norming is definitely a thing.

Something I haven't seen anyone else mention in this thread is that so much more is automated now.
- car windows (then) winding cranks vs. (now) electronic button
- car steering (then) manual vs. (now) automatic
- tv channel changes (then) kid runs to turn the knob on the tv vs. (now) remote
- lawn mowers (then) basic push mower vs. (now) power drive
etc. etc.

Not many calories used in each, but a couple of calories extra used many times every day adds up. Obviously this would not be one of the main contributors, and there are many, many things contributing to our current obesity epidemic.

I also remember that we had no problem parking way in the back of the lot and walking to the mall entrance or grocery store. Whereas now I see people endlessly circling to try to get a closer spot, or they put their hazards on and run inside.