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

[Anonymous]

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.

This. A salad in the 70's was iceberg lettuce, tomato, carrot and cucumber. We ate a lot of canned peaches and canned pears. Fresh fruit was seasonal.

[Anonymous]

Kids rode their bikes for miles all day long.

Kids ate what they were served. If you did not like what was served you waited until the next meal. Parents did not cater to picky eaters.

Food was more expensive for a family back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know because I barely remember drinking water as a kid. Just out of a Jose outside in the summer or at fountains at school. No one had water bottles. Koolaid from a pitcher in the fridge, milk at meals.

Bottled water did not exist. The only supplemental water came from water fountains.

[Anonymous]

Drugs

[Anonymous]

Less snacking
More active
Less screen time
More survival of the fittest- now everyone unhealthy stays alive on their couch ordering garbage to eat and twiddling in the iPhones

[Anonymous]

My Mom was a health nut and worked out in President Lady's Fitness in those thong over leggings outfits. I spent my evenings in the child care area of the gym and then worked there as a teen. She also did speed and ran in those solar suits with her stick figure girlfriends. She was obsessed with being 102 pounds. My Dad played on adult tennis and golf leagues and stated fit that way. As a child, I was very thin, active and only knew 1 fat child in our school. Now, everyone notices if you are thin.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s related to the microbiome. For some reason, something in our air, water, or food has shifted the mix of bugs in our guts. No sure exactly how, but I think this is driving the obesity epidemic.

Portion sizes also got much, much larger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s related to the microbiome. For some reason, something in our air, water, or food has shifted the mix of bugs in our guts. No sure exactly how, but I think this is driving the obesity epidemic.

Portion sizes also got much, much larger.

This was an interesting theory about a decade ago but it hasn’t really gone anywhere. Seems like it was just the portions and snacks all along.

[Anonymous]

Come on. I still call BS. Who knows movers that aren't fat? They are super physical every day.

I swear that the more I think about it none of it makes sense. Unless literally everyone was on amphetamines

My Grandmother cooked lavish meals. My Mom cooked simple meals but not terribly unhealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Come on. I still call BS. Who knows movers that aren't fat? They are super physical every day.

I swear that the more I think about it none of it makes sense. Unless literally everyone was on amphetamines

My Grandmother cooked lavish meals. My Mom cooked simple meals but not terribly unhealthy.

My brother spent the past two summers as a mover with various crews and none of them were fat. Unless offensive linemen look fat to you I guess.

Anyway it’s not the lavishness of meals. It’s eating until full at a meal and then eating more snacks every time you stop feeling full. All day long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on. I still call BS. Who knows movers that aren't fat? They are super physical every day.

I swear that the more I think about it none of it makes sense. Unless literally everyone was on amphetamines

My Grandmother cooked lavish meals. My Mom cooked simple meals but not terribly unhealthy.

My brother spent the past two summers as a mover with various crews and none of them were fat. Unless offensive linemen look fat to you I guess.

Anyway it’s not the lavishness of meals. It’s eating until full at a meal and then eating more snacks every time you stop feeling full. All day long.

Last time I had movers the guy had a beer belly like no one I've seen. He was crazy strong and moved crazy fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on. I still call BS. Who knows movers that aren't fat? They are super physical every day.

I swear that the more I think about it none of it makes sense. Unless literally everyone was on amphetamines

My Grandmother cooked lavish meals. My Mom cooked simple meals but not terribly unhealthy.

My brother spent the past two summers as a mover with various crews and none of them were fat. Unless offensive linemen look fat to you I guess.

Anyway it’s not the lavishness of meals. It’s eating until full at a meal and then eating more snacks every time you stop feeling full. All day long.

I'm overweight and don't eat like that. I usually only have one meal a day (dinner). I've eaten like this most of my life and was never skinny. Always on a diet or restricting my eating. It sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 54 and remember when everybody started marketing low fat foods in the 80s, and nobody realized they added a bunch of sugar to make it taste better. And I really think we got addicted to that, more than anything. And that was about the same time diet sodas became sweetened with Nutrasweet which tasted a lot better than the older saccharine sweeteners that had a bitter aftertaste. There is some data out there that just tasting the sweetness without getting the calories makes you crave more.

To me, those two trends really shifted how we ate as a country. That plus fast food marketing super-sized everything.

Yes. This kind of food marketing. Nutrition Action Newsletter discusses this topic sometimes.

[Anonymous]

I think people are missing an important part of this timeline. We are talking about a generation that was born in the 40s, and were parents in the 70s. My parents generation growing up never had fast food and never ate out at restaurants and the nutritional density of their food was not stripped bare.

As junk food increased, and shortcuts like microwave dinner were invented, and take out pizza, that generation gain weight in the 80s.

Growing up in the 80s/90s, the die was cast - we drank soda daily, watched TV, had microwaveable pizza bagels, etc.

And even in the 80s - Agree that everyone mowed their own lawns, kids rode bikes or walked everywhere, til dark, portion sizes were smaller, there was no Uber Eats, people barely had computers so no one was sitting on them for hours a day.

I’m shocked by my husband who comes home from work sitting at his desk all day, to him opening up his laptop for more hours at night. Then my kids sitting in class all day, on their ipads, to coming home and doing their homework for hours on them. That alone is awful for our physical bodies.

And a PP mentioned stress. Without question stress directly correlates to weight. We know it raises cortisol levels, which impact hormones, which impact metabolism.

Even the farmers market organic food you can pick up on sunday has so much less nutritional value than it used to. Out microbiome is not getting diversity. We are eating breathing and absorbing chemicals all day long.

Lots of factors. Not just the smoking - although agree that’s a factor too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diet coke and Marlboro lights

Eating healthy also does not make you skinny, the idea that we should be at the bottom of our BMI is not healthy.

Tab + Virginia Slims

Fast food burgers and fries were the size of a happy meal now

Fat-free meant lots of added sugar, as previously mentioned

Speed + Diet Ayds (my grandma lived on chocolate Ayds)