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

[Anonymous]

OP, I am in health care and this is my area of practice.
Other than the abundance of trans fat in the 60s and 70s, the food back then had similar nutritional value.
What has changed is that we are consuming more of every type of calorie. "Good" calories, bad calories, every kind of calorie imaginable is making its way onto our bigger plates.
To over simplify, because it is simple, we need to eat less of everything. I even get worried when I see the water drinkers. They could give up the water bottle and be a bit less orally focused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am in health care and this is my area of practice.
Other than the abundance of trans fat in the 60s and 70s, the food back then had similar nutritional value.
What has changed is that we are consuming more of every type of calorie. "Good" calories, bad calories, every kind of calorie imaginable is making its way onto our bigger plates.
To over simplify, because it is simple, we need to eat less of everything. I even get worried when I see the water drinkers. They could give up the water bottle and be a bit less orally focused.

My husband and I were just talking about the water bottles.

Nobody walked around with a personal water bottle when we grew up 70s/early 80s.

We brought our water jugs to sports practice, but adults/kids did not need a personal bottle of water with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

I was a child in the 1960s. We had one car, almost no one had two cars, quite a few families had no car. We had AC in only one room. But we lived in an outer borough of NYC.

This probably has a lot to do with it. Many families in NYC still don't have two cars. In the suburbs, it was the norm to have 2 cars and A/C, and my family was more lower middle class than upper.

This was not Manhattan though, and it was a time when plenty of outer borough people were frightened of the crime riddden, graffitti covered subways.

Anyway, the national data show that over half of households in the entire USA had one or zero cars in 1970. That has to include a lot of suburban households. Maybe you are thinking 1978 not 1970,or your burb was particulary auto dependent (lots of burbs in greater NY, Boston, Chicago, Philly had very good commuter rail service) or it was more upper middle class than you remember (I mean these days people who are objectively rich consider themselves UMC, and I think lots of people who are really UMC consider themselves LMC)

I think that because houses were generally smaller back then, people look at their parent's houses and think "We must have been poor/middle class."

My inlaws had a nice for the times 1970s home. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room and big kitchen with separate eating area. They were upper middle class and that was considered a large spacious home back then.

Now it is considered a small starter home.

My family's middle class neighborhood was full of 3 bedroom/1 bathroom modest homes. They would be considered tear downs now, not fit for anyone but the poors.

Middle class people in the 70s did not generally have central air and middle class families in the 70s generally did not have 2 cars.

Ok, I wasn’t born until 1979 but my parents had 2 cars, AC, and a 3/2 ranch house. My dad worked construction and my mom was a bookkeeper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was a child in the 1960s. We had one car, almost no one had two cars, quite a few families had no car. We had AC in only one room. But we lived in an outer borough of NYC.

This probably has a lot to do with it. Many families in NYC still don't have two cars. In the suburbs, it was the norm to have 2 cars and A/C, and my family was more lower middle class than upper.

This was not Manhattan though, and it was a time when plenty of outer borough people were frightened of the crime riddden, graffitti covered subways.

Anyway, the national data show that over half of households in the entire USA had one or zero cars in 1970. That has to include a lot of suburban households. Maybe you are thinking 1978 not 1970,or your burb was particulary auto dependent (lots of burbs in greater NY, Boston, Chicago, Philly had very good commuter rail service) or it was more upper middle class than you remember (I mean these days people who are objectively rich consider themselves UMC, and I think lots of people who are really UMC consider themselves LMC)

I think that because houses were generally smaller back then, people look at their parent's houses and think "We must have been poor/middle class."

My inlaws had a nice for the times 1970s home. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room and big kitchen with separate eating area. They were upper middle class and that was considered a large spacious home back then.

Now it is considered a small starter home.

My family's middle class neighborhood was full of 3 bedroom/1 bathroom modest homes. They would be considered tear downs now, not fit for anyone but the poors.

Middle class people in the 70s did not generally have central air and middle class families in the 70s generally did not have 2 cars.

Ok, I wasn’t born until 1979 but my parents had 2 cars, AC, and a 3/2 ranch house. My dad worked construction and my mom was a bookkeeper.

[Anonymous]

OP, I just made lamb chops, mac and cheese, and corn on the cob for my kids. The lamb was seasoned with Indian spices that you couldn't get in the 1970s. But the seasoning really enhanced the taste, making it more likely to be consumed. It also wasn't easy to always find lamb, plus it was pricey. We only got a leg at easter.
The mac and cheese was frozen from WF. It was delicious, however, in the 1970s. My mother might have been too tired to add cheese to the mac that she boiled; or she would not have wanted to waste a lot of cheese on it, so it would have been less cheesey.
This meal took me about 25 minutes (plus lamb marinade 15 minutes).
Bottom line, food more tasty, food all gone.
Followup with almond cranberry cookies bought from the store. High quality, tasty, will be eaten.
There is usually a salad, but they ate grapes and peaches before dinner.

For breakfast they have these HUGE bagels. When I was in college, 1980, we ate the tiny Lenders Bagels.

I recall us leaving the table early back then, food just wasn't a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was a child in the 1960s. We had one car, almost no one had two cars, quite a few families had no car. We had AC in only one room. But we lived in an outer borough of NYC.

This probably has a lot to do with it. Many families in NYC still don't have two cars. In the suburbs, it was the norm to have 2 cars and A/C, and my family was more lower middle class than upper.

This was not Manhattan though, and it was a time when plenty of outer borough people were frightened of the crime riddden, graffitti covered subways.

Anyway, the national data show that over half of households in the entire USA had one or zero cars in 1970. That has to include a lot of suburban households. Maybe you are thinking 1978 not 1970,or your burb was particulary auto dependent (lots of burbs in greater NY, Boston, Chicago, Philly had very good commuter rail service) or it was more upper middle class than you remember (I mean these days people who are objectively rich consider themselves UMC, and I think lots of people who are really UMC consider themselves LMC)

I think that because houses were generally smaller back then, people look at their parent's houses and think "We must have been poor/middle class."

My inlaws had a nice for the times 1970s home. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room and big kitchen with separate eating area. They were upper middle class and that was considered a large spacious home back then.

Now it is considered a small starter home.

My family's middle class neighborhood was full of 3 bedroom/1 bathroom modest homes. They would be considered tear downs now, not fit for anyone but the poors.

Middle class people in the 70s did not generally have central air and middle class families in the 70s generally did not have 2 cars.

Ok, I wasn’t born until 1979 but my parents had 2 cars, AC, and a 3/2 ranch house. My dad worked construction and my mom was a bookkeeper.

So you are not a child of the 70s. You are a child of the 80s.

Most people had 2 cars and AC in the 80s and fewer people were smoking (but still smoked everywhere in public, classrooms, school bathrooms, church events, hospitals, etc)

In the 70s, middle class families had no or just one car, no AC or maybe just one window unit, and everyone from high school to grandparents smoked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was a child in the 1960s. We had one car, almost no one had two cars, quite a few families had no car. We had AC in only one room. But we lived in an outer borough of NYC.

This probably has a lot to do with it. Many families in NYC still don't have two cars. In the suburbs, it was the norm to have 2 cars and A/C, and my family was more lower middle class than upper.

This was not Manhattan though, and it was a time when plenty of outer borough people were frightened of the crime riddden, graffitti covered subways.

Anyway, the national data show that over half of households in the entire USA had one or zero cars in 1970. That has to include a lot of suburban households. Maybe you are thinking 1978 not 1970,or your burb was particulary auto dependent (lots of burbs in greater NY, Boston, Chicago, Philly had very good commuter rail service) or it was more upper middle class than you remember (I mean these days people who are objectively rich consider themselves UMC, and I think lots of people who are really UMC consider themselves LMC)

I think that because houses were generally smaller back then, people look at their parent's houses and think "We must have been poor/middle class."

My inlaws had a nice for the times 1970s home. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, living room and big kitchen with separate eating area. They were upper middle class and that was considered a large spacious home back then.

Now it is considered a small starter home.

My family's middle class neighborhood was full of 3 bedroom/1 bathroom modest homes. They would be considered tear downs now, not fit for anyone but the poors.

Middle class people in the 70s did not generally have central air and middle class families in the 70s generally did not have 2 cars.

Ok, I wasn’t born until 1979 but my parents had 2 cars, AC, and a 3/2 ranch house. My dad worked construction and my mom was a bookkeeper.

So you are not a child of the 70s. You are a child of the 80s.

Most people had 2 cars and AC in the 80s and fewer people were smoking (but still smoked everywhere in public, classrooms, school bathrooms, church events, hospitals, etc)

In the 70s, middle class families had no or just one car, no AC or maybe just one window unit, and everyone from high school to grandparents smoked.

I was born in the mid 60's and was growing up in the DC area during the 70's. When my parents bought our house it did not have central AC. We used window units and boy could the house get hot. They later added central AC which was a big deal for them financially and boy did it ever feel like luxury. Dad only ran the AC when it was really unbearably hot. Otherwise, we used fans in the house.

We had two teenage drivers at the time and we had 3 cars which my dad worked on and maintained himself. We lived in a modest, middle class neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am in health care and this is my area of practice.
Other than the abundance of trans fat in the 60s and 70s, the food back then had similar nutritional value.
What has changed is that we are consuming more of every type of calorie. "Good" calories, bad calories, every kind of calorie imaginable is making its way onto our bigger plates.
To over simplify, because it is simple, we need to eat less of everything. I even get worried when I see the water drinkers. They could give up the water bottle and be a bit less orally focused.

Actually...https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/

[Anonymous]

I just walked through the airport tonight and was struck by how many overweight people there were of all ages. I'm over 50 and most of the men and women my age are 20 pounds or more overweight. Overweight parents often have overweight kids. My guess as others have said is that snacks, huge portions and computers (sedentary lifestyle) are the culprits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just walked through the airport tonight and was struck by how many overweight people there were of all ages. I'm over 50 and most of the men and women my age are 20 pounds or more overweight. Overweight parents often have overweight kids. My guess as others have said is that snacks, huge portions and computers (sedentary lifestyle) are the culprits.

This is true. But it's not genetic - people in the same household or who spend a lot of time around each other tend to develop the same habits (either good or bad).

[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.

LOL! We used King Syrup which was corn syrup. I was avg sized kid who played outside 24/7. My mom would say in or out! My parents were thin (still are). Even though we ate junk food, we hardly EVER ate out. My mom cooked every single day!

[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.

LOL! We used King Syrup which was corn syrup. I was avg sized kid who played outside 24/7. My mom would say in or out! My parents were thin (still are). Even though we ate junk food, we hardly EVER ate out. My mom cooked every single day!

Yes, and we played outside.

[Anonymous]

I was outside all the time in the 70s- bikes, walking, hopscotch and tag, imaginary games with kids in the neighborhood, swings, grandparent's farm.
Kids were "tougher" - I remember getting so thirsty, I thought I would collapse before going inside for a drink of water. My DS11 gets kind of whiny at the first sign of physical discomfort. I sound cranky, but it's because he grew up in the time when I had a constant sippy cup, or bag of cheerios, or I popped him in a stroller when he got tired of walking...on the other hand, kids are "smarter." Academically, he is light years ahead of where I was at his age and has a lot of stamina for schoolwork, solving harder problems, etc.

[Anonymous]

I was a fat kid in the 1970s. I played outside all day long, we had one car and no central a/c until the 1980s in our 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house. Our food came from huge gardens that my grandparents maintained and we would get a slaughtered cow and pig that would go in the deep freezer for use all winter. I was still fat. I have struggled with my weight all of my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a fat kid in the 1970s. I played outside all day long, we had one car and no central a/c until the 1980s in our 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house. Our food came from huge gardens that my grandparents maintained and we would get a slaughtered cow and pig that would go in the deep freezer for use all winter. I was still fat. I have struggled with my weight all of my life.

I think it's sort of general- a lot of people these days can control their weight fairly easily with proper diet and exercise- but sometimes it's just harder due to genetics or other factors that can't be controlled, even when you do all of the right things. I have a relative who has had life long struggles with her weight and she eats better/healthier and is more conscientious about regular exercise than I am- I am slim and she is not, although she much better habits. It's not really fair, but I remember growing up, she had the most beautiful, clear skin and straight, shiny hair and I struggled with terrible acne and frizzy, lank hair. Genetics are so hard.