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

[Anonymous]

The obese didn't live as long then..you can live a lot longer with heart disease and diabetes now.

[Anonymous]

My mom just brought over a ton of old photos from the 70s. Damn were my siblings and I thin!! I always thought of myself as the chubby one and I was a toothpick in these photos. We were outside playing, biking, swimming from sun-up to sundown in the summer. We also all played travel soccer, tennis, etc.

People didn’t snack as much, portion sizes were MUCH smaller. Bagels were 1/4 size—so were muffins. There weren’t fatty Starbucks drinks. People are at home more frequently instead of eating out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Complex question. I know.

Please share your theories as to why.

Genetics changed in the 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Urban areas have higher levels of obesity that suburban areas, FYI.

I’ve read exactly the opposite. City people are thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OMG no. I was a child in the 70's. I never heard of a single family that only had one car, that would have been very strange. I lived in a middle class suburb and everyone had AC. And no, most people did not smoke.

This is a troll no doubt. Something like 70% of adults smokes in the 70s. Two car families were very rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Complex question. I know.

Please share your theories as to why.

One spouse didn’t work. Life was more enjoyable with less stress.

[Anonymous]

OP, we ate less. Food was less readily available and more complicated to prepare. Chickens came whole, not cut up. Fewer choices at the grocery, so food was less appetizing. MUCH less variety. Just Uncle Ben's rice, no Basmati or Jasmine rice. If you wanted oatmeal, you took out a pot, and the ingredients and stood there stirring. No instant food. Also, the few instant things that were available tasted horrible. No frozen pasta dishes, or frozen pizzas. Ice cream, three flavors. Stuff got repetitive so you ate less. Fewer restaurants of all types, plus the cost of a meal out was higher relative to people's incomes. Food only sold in grocery stores, so if you went into a department store or drug store, no food. Events were not food centered. A typical birthday party was cake (small, homemade), chips, and soda. One bag of chips for 12 kids.
I have always wanted PBS to do one of those back in time reality shows back to 1971. It would be fun.

[Anonymous]

Food industry had too much corn and came up with HFCS. There are some opinions that fructose is more damaging than sucrose, and it was added in late 1970 and in 1980 Coca Cola started to use it and all followed. Plus people before 80s walked, not everyone had a car, kids biked to school a lot. And home cooking. That has almost disappeared. And it is not just US, around the world food industry has messed up billions. Plus 80s, Reaganism, more money, more restaurants, some eating out, larger and larger portions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids and younger people are fatter now, older people are thinner and in better shape now.

In the 70s we mostly played outside all day and the only electronic device was a television. Portions were much smaller, and going out to eat anywhere was a special treat. Sodas were half the size they are now.

Older people did not tend to exercise, and the thinner ones still smoked like chimneys.

This is true world around though. I am slimmer than most teens at DD's HS. I am European, btw, and even in my country more teens and people are overweight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Urban areas have higher levels of obesity that suburban areas, FYI.

I’ve read exactly the opposite. City people are thin.

White city people are thin. Most of the obesity in urban areas is of African Americans and linked the poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, we ate less. Food was less readily available and more complicated to prepare. Chickens came whole, not cut up. Fewer choices at the grocery, so food was less appetizing. MUCH less variety. Just Uncle Ben's rice, no Basmati or Jasmine rice. If you wanted oatmeal, you took out a pot, and the ingredients and stood there stirring. No instant food. Also, the few instant things that were available tasted horrible. No frozen pasta dishes, or frozen pizzas. Ice cream, three flavors. Stuff got repetitive so you ate less. Fewer restaurants of all types, plus the cost of a meal out was higher relative to people's incomes. Food only sold in grocery stores, so if you went into a department store or drug store, no food. Events were not food centered. A typical birthday party was cake (small, homemade), chips, and soda. One bag of chips for 12 kids.
I have always wanted PBS to do one of those back in time reality shows back to 1971. It would be fun.

I do remember those days. And, PPs description is very accurate. I am 55 years old and I don't recall but a few obese kids when I was growing up but the adults were fat from being sedentary and eating high fat foods. A lot of people smoked too. We stayed outside and played until the street lights came on. I lived in the city. We biked or walked everywhere or rode the bus. A treat was going to McDonald's after school where we would get the regular cheeseburger meal with fries and a shake. There wasn't a lot of fast food variety like today. My mother or grandmother cooked everyday because they were accustomed to cooking dinner. Today I rarely cook for my teenagers. We eat out a lot or get take home. I am a working professional and too tired to put together a meal during the work week. Plus, it is not necessary because my kids are old enough where they can eat while they are out and put something together at home if they are hungry. Neither one of my kids (15 year old twins) are overweight because they are active with sports or have to get around on their own either walking, bus, or Uber. My husband and I could stand to exercise more and lose some weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Urban areas have higher levels of obesity that suburban areas, FYI.

I’ve read exactly the opposite. City people are thin.

poor city people are fat; MC/UMC city people are thin.

[Anonymous]

Saw the Mr. Rogers Documentary yesterday. A couple of things struck me.

1. The kids in the clips from the 1960s interacting with MR were almost all chewing gum.
2. No, they were not all super thin. Range of weights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, we ate less. Food was less readily available and more complicated to prepare. Chickens came whole, not cut up. Fewer choices at the grocery, so food was less appetizing. MUCH less variety. Just Uncle Ben's rice, no Basmati or Jasmine rice. If you wanted oatmeal, you took out a pot, and the ingredients and stood there stirring. No instant food. Also, the few instant things that were available tasted horrible. No frozen pasta dishes, or frozen pizzas. Ice cream, three flavors. Stuff got repetitive so you ate less. Fewer restaurants of all types, plus the cost of a meal out was higher relative to people's incomes. Food only sold in grocery stores, so if you went into a department store or drug store, no food. Events were not food centered. A typical birthday party was cake (small, homemade), chips, and soda. One bag of chips for 12 kids.
I have always wanted PBS to do one of those back in time reality shows back to 1971. It would be fun.

I was a kid in the 70's and I distinctly remember eating packets of instant oatmeal (maple and brown sugar was my fave) and packets of instant cream of wheat with sugar and butter mixed in. We also ate sugary cereals - Coco Puffs, Lucky Charms, Captain Crunch, Fruit Loops - remember all of those kid cereal commercials on t.v.? I sure do. Oh, and Pop Tarts - we ate those, too.

We also brought Hostess snack cakes to school in our lunches.

We were skinny because we walked and biked everywhere. To/from school. To/from our friends' houses, the playground, the pool. I often walked a couple of miles to the grocery store and back.

We also helped our parents with yard work - mowing lawns, leaf raking, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. We helped clean the house, straighten up the basement storage areas, cleaned up the garage.

Nowadays, kids get driven everywhere and, more often than not, people hire lawn and cleaning services to take care of household chores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OMG no. I was a child in the 70's. I never heard of a single family that only had one car, that would have been very strange. I lived in a middle class suburb and everyone had AC. And no, most people did not smoke.

Infant in the 70s?

There is no way you were middle class or a child in the 70s based on what you posted.