Why were Americans of all ages so thin during the 1960s and 1970s?

[Anonymous]

Cigarettes.

[Anonymous]

Snacking and eating out. I remember when I was growing up, going out to eat was a big deal -- it was expensive and it was a real treat. And this was just my MC family going down to the Ponderosa steakhouse. Now a lot of families go out to eat or get takeout or other prepared food on a near daily basis. Much less home cooking. Everybody is on the run from here to there, no time to sit and eat.

And I think that means more processed foods, less healthy food and bigger portions.

I'm not advocating a return to the days when mom stayed home and cooked meals from scratch everyday. I'm a working parent too and putting dinner on the table everyday is hard. I'm not sure what the solution is.

[Anonymous]

No corn syrup. Things were sweetened with real sugar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The majority of Americans today are overweight or obese.

A few decades ago they were normal size, not thin.

I’m sure you know this but want to troll around.

No. They were quite thin. Maybe it was the way the clothing was cut? I do not know because I was not alive during those decades.

Where are you getting this? I was born in 1964 and I was never "quite thin" as a child. Look at the Brady Bunch Kids. Are any of them 'quite thin'? No. They are normal sized children.

[Anonymous]

1. We are taller by 1 inch
2. School aged children sit in their seats all day at school.
3. Convenience food replace fruit as a snack.
4. Less people smoke
5. More desk jobs.
6. Medication driven healthcare that keeps fat people alive but does not require a diet change.
7. Due to pesticides, hormones in meat, SSRIs, etc somebody in 1960 could eat the exact same amount as somebody today with a similar work out program and the person today will still have a BMI 2.3 points higher (Jennifer Kuk).
8. The fat free era increased the American's intake of processed food and carbohydrates by 14% which has affected our livers and insulin production.

[Anonymous]

Please post examples of quite thin 1960-1970s era children (and quite thin American population). I would love to know what gave you this idea, because I grew up in this era and can't reconcile what you are saying.

[Anonymous]

Relative to incomes, a lot of things were more expensive back then, or they seemed more like luxuries (meaning, people weren't willing to spend on them). For example:

As someone pointed out, more families had only one car. And people were less paranoid re:safety. Kids pretty much all walked, took the bus (which usually meant walking to the bus stop), and biked to school, activities, friends, even out in the suburbs and car.

We had tv dinners and junk food (chips, ice cream ,etc.) but eating out was more of a luxury. And there were less fast casual type options or fast food options. We didn't have Chipotle, Panera, etc.

Microwaves are way cheaper now relative to income. Few people had them and they were pretty expensive.

[Anonymous]

Convenience snack culture is a thing now. I honestly don't remember snacks being a big deal as a kid. The only things I remember is that at Girl Scouts after school it was a big deal when it was your turn to bring snack, and then it was fruit or oreos. At home when playing I really just remember meals, and meals weren't perfect or full of vegetables by today's standards. But it does seem there was less food. Our house restricted cereal/soda/cookies but not excessively. When I had a sleepover we could have junk food of our choosing as a treat. We also only went out for ice cream instead of stocking it in the house, which is something I am trying to do now.

With a toddler/preschooler now, there are always snacks at hand for kids. At the park, or the pool, or a museum, everywhere you look families are giving their kids snacks. I'm pretty lazy about remembering to take snacks for my DC, so we basically just have meals or fruit before a meal if I sense he's hungry.

I'm not the food police, by any stretch, but the convenience snacks are a change I notice from my childhood in the 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No corn syrup. Things were sweetened with real sugar.

There was corn syrup. It was cheap and accessible.

We used to put it on our pancakes. We were poor and corn syrup was cheaper than maple syrup.

Corn syrup was in all the sweet stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the 60s and 70s. I am 50. We ate junk food all the time. Twinkies, super sweet cereal, cokes, Kool-aide, ...... We weren't fat because we were active all the time. It really is that simple.

Yes.

The 70s diet was horrible compared to today.

But most families had only one car so people biked and walked many places. We spent all day outside playing, running around, climbing trees, swimming.

Most people did not have AC so inside was HOT over the summer.

And lost of adults smoked in addition to being more active.

+1 on the one car. And in most families the car was at work with dad in the daytime so if you were a kid and wanted to get anywhere, including school, you had to walk, ride a bike, or catch a bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No corn syrup. Things were sweetened with real sugar.

There was corn syrup. It was cheap and accessible.

We used to put it on our pancakes. We were poor and corn syrup was cheaper than maple syrup.

Corn syrup was in all the sweet stuff.

Yep, KARO corn syrup was in everything back then.

[Anonymous]

No video games and computer games until the 80s. And a lot less stuff to watch on tv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No corn syrup. Things were sweetened with real sugar.

There was corn syrup. It was cheap and accessible.

We used to put it on our pancakes. We were poor and corn syrup was cheaper than maple syrup.

Corn syrup was in all the sweet stuff.

Yep, KARO corn syrup was in everything back then.

It did not start being added into food until 1970. It was determined "safe" by the FDA in 1976.

[Anonymous]

More vicious bullying of overweight kids.

[Anonymous]

Like others have said, the walking everywhere will do it. I live in NYC, and while there certainly are overweight people here, not as much in the suburbs. I really notice it when I visit family out of the city how large people are.