When did junk food/sweets/fast food stop being just an occasional treat?

KassLea22
KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
Just a thought I've been having for a while, that I wanted to see other opinions.

Growing up, my family never really ordered in food or had fast food. We only ate that stuff if it was a special occasion. We also had cookies, candy, ice cream, and all those other foods at home but they were never a part of my every day diet. They were treats that we would eat maybe on a weekend or on family game night, or if we had friends over. My mom was a great baker, but she only baked cakes and sweets on birthdays or for bake sales, things like that....or if she wanted to treat us to something special on a weekend or for a barbecue.

So I grew up with a pretty healthy diet, and was not being deprived of sweets from time to time. I'm an adult now and that attitude has definitely continued with me. I don't eat that stuff on an every day basis and I don't really feel like I'm missing out. When I do have cake and cookies and things like that I consider it a treat and it kind of makes it more fun to have it since I don't have things like that a lot.

I've been on the site since 2011, but I didn't really start posting on here until recently. One thing I noticed when I started reading these forums years ago was that things like cookies and pop and cake were a part of peoples every day diet. I just kind of figured everybody viewed those items as treats. I realize now that many people think of those things as necessities.

Just wondering what everyone's view of this is. Is it better if cake and cookies are viewed as a special treat? Or should they be considered an acceptable part of an every day diet? Has anyone else noticed this change in attitude towards sweets or am I alone?

Edit: I suppose my overall question is, why do so many people have such different attitudes towards food? Why is food and emotional issue for some people, when for other people it's not? why do you some food items have different definitions for different people? All things that are just interesting to me, I like learning about other people and their attitudes.

Also want to clarify that my parents wouldn't have cared if we ate the candy and ice cream that was in our house as long as we asked first. I guess i just really didn't because I always viewed it as something special and not for every day.
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Replies

  • KassLea22
    KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I think how people eat is their own personal business.

    Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.

    I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
  • KassLea22
    KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    KassLea22 wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I think how people eat is their own personal business.

    Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.

    I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.

    That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.

    Oh of course I'm not saying there weren't. I guess it's just interesting how different peoples attitude and thoughts about food Are. And I think peoples attitudes towards food probably stems from how they were raised and the household attitude they were raised in. It's interesting to me because until I started talking to people in my personal life about the food and started reading discussions on here, I never realized that food was such an emotional, personal issue to people.

    Not saying that's a bad thing, just an observation.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    KassLea22 wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I think how people eat is their own personal business.

    Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.

    I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.

    That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.

    was going to say the same but probably less eloquently. each person's family is a unique culture really.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm 37 and I knew lots of children growing up who did have candy, cookies, sweetened cereal, fruit drinks, etc daily. My family didn't, but I felt as if we were the exception.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited March 2017
    IDK...I think it's been a long time. I'm 42 and when I was a kid, my family definitely treated treats like treats, we rarely ate out, etc...part of that was because we were poor and part of that was my mom not wanting my sister and I to eat like crap.

    On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.
  • KassLea22
    KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm 37 and I knew lots of children growing up who did have candy, cookies, sweetened cereal, fruit drinks, etc daily. My family didn't, but I felt as if we were the exception.

    I'm almost 27. But I also suppose that cultures differ State to state, and I grew up in one of the healthiest states in the US.
  • KassLea22
    KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    IDK...I think it's been a long time. I'm 42 and when I was a kid, my family definitely treated treats like treats, we rarely ate out, etc...part of that was because we were poor and part of that was my mom not wanting my sister and I to eat like crap.

    On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they out frequently.

    We definitely ate like that when we had friends over to. I guess I never felt like I was missing out because I didn't eat a lot of junk food and I don't feel that way now that I'm an adult and can make my own choices. I'm not saying either way people choose to run their household is good or bad I just think it's interesting seeing how it affects people's attitude towards food. That's all.

  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited March 2017
    One set of my grandparents had 'junk' regularly. Not take out, that's a newer thing. Both of my parents remember the first take out place opening in their town, but ice cream, candy, chips, pretzels were staples in her family. My mother fondly remembers Sunday dinners when she was a kid: a bucket of ice cream from the local dairy and Charles' Chips.

    She's modified that tradition to a once-per-year banana split for dinner.
  • KassLea22
    KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
    jessiferrrb wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    KassLea22 wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I think how people eat is their own personal business.

    Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.

    I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.

    That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.

    was going to say the same but probably less eloquently. each person's family is a unique culture really.

    Totally. That's what I think is the most interesting part really. I just think it's interesting that so many people have so many different views towards food, and towards different kinds of food.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    IDK...I think it's been a long time. I'm 42 and when I was a kid, my family definitely treated treats like treats, we rarely ate out, etc...part of that was because we were poor and part of that was my mom not wanting my sister and I to eat like crap.

    On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.

    Sounds a bit like my experience (only synagogue instead of church). Mom baked on Fridays, but she did limit portions. Candy was just at Halloween. But when it came time to trade lunches in school, I discovered that nobody wanted to change my apple for a bag of potato chips or a Mars bar. Going to a friend's house meant cookies during the week! Made me jealous too.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.

    yaasss! going to kids houses that had poptarts was amazing! or just going to houses where they had free range to access the fridge. my mom would always monitor access to food and i felt like it was so cool when kids could make their own food decisions. except for my one friend who used to eat raw cheese filled hotdogs out of the fridge after school.

  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    My mom was into health food so some of the stuff I see promoted now she was doing way back in the day. Stuff like flaxseed, spirulina, carob, natural herbs like echinacea... she used to made her own butter spread blending real butter with canola oil when everyone else was eating margarine. So it's crazy to me to see all the crazy stuff she used to do now commonplace.

    As healthy as she tried to be we still had some junk and treats. Two homemade cookies after dinner, there was always ice cream in the freezer because my dad enjoyed it. She was adverse to sugary cereal but was ok with pop tarts (weird).

    The funny thing is that most "junk" she bought was usually generic to save money. Back when shopping at warehouse clubs were not popular. We had generic mayo and ketchup from gallon tubs, generic tubs of ice cream, potato chips from a box (yes box)... I hated the chips from a box! So while we had some junk around it never really crossed my mind to eat much of it. I loved when we actually got to eat name brand stuff which wasn't very often.

    Now I'm grown enough to buy my own junk. I wouldn't say how I grew up affected how I eat now. I try to eat healthy, but I'm a mindless nighttime snacker. It's why I'm here constantly battling 5-10 pounds.



  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I grew up in the 60's and 70's. We had sweets every day. There was never a time that there wasn't a homemade cake or pie or cookies available. And we always had ice cream or ice milk (what low-fat ice cream was labeled back then) in the house. We drank Kool-Aid a lot too. And we almost always had sugary cereal for breakfast.

    We had these things daily, but other than breakfast cereal they weren't meals. They were dessert and you didn't get them if you didn't finish your meal, which was usually meat, potatoes and a vegetable.

    There wasn't much fast food in our area when I was young other then KFC and that was real treat usually saved for special Sunday dinners.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    jessiferrrb wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.

    yaasss! going to kids houses that had poptarts was amazing! or just going to houses where they had free range to access the fridge. my mom would always monitor access to food and i felt like it was so cool when kids could make their own food decisions. except for my one friend who used to eat raw cheese filled hotdogs out of the fridge after school.

    Yeah, my mom never bought stuff like that. I can remember grocery shopping and I'd beg and plead for something besides oatmeal or cheerios..."like please can I have Lucky Charms fecking once before I die?"

    My pops had a bit of an affinity for chocolate doughnuts though...so he'd sneak me one here and there.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    When I was raising my own kids fast food was not something we had often. We didn't have a lot of money when the kids were little so eating at home was as much out of necessity as a desire to eat healthy (although nutrition was a priority). We still did always have a homemade dessert in the house though. I only stopped that once all the children had flown the coop and I realized I was the only one eating it.
  • 3rdof7sisters
    3rdof7sisters Posts: 486 Member
    I am older (65) and growing up, my parents always had potato chips, popcorn, and hard candy (lemon drops or starlight peppermint) in the house. We did sit down to dinner every evening as a family and had home cooked meals. My parents went out to dinner about once per month, but never took us kids along. We never had pop in the house. We had small desserts occasionally, mostly pudding. And cakes for birthdays. Pies @ Thanksgiving. Cookies @ Christmas, and we each had an Easter basket. There were graham crackers in the house usually, but I never really liked them. I don't remember ever feeling deprived.
  • KassLea22
    KassLea22 Posts: 112 Member
    kclaar11 wrote: »
    KassLea22 wrote: »
    jessiferrrb wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    KassLea22 wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    I think how people eat is their own personal business.

    Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.

    I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.

    That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.

    was going to say the same but probably less eloquently. each person's family is a unique culture really.

    Totally. That's what I think is the most interesting part really. I just think it's interesting that so many people have so many different views towards food, and towards different kinds of food.

    I think you have genuine curiosity, but I think your original post kind of backed you in to a corner that you are trying to get out of. I think you originally thought that most people shared the same view, and there has been a fundamental shift in "how" people view treats. Having heard that that was not the same for a lot of people, you have kinda shifted toward saying you are more just surprised about different views on food. Definitely not a hater, because I grew up with families from both sides of that argument. Personally, we always had "treats" in the pantry; I just did not choose to eat them "too" frequently ;)

    Yeah this is exactly how I feel. I guess I genuinely thought that other people thought the same way I do and I am genuinely curious. I like learning about other people's points of view. I think for me the food is not an emotional issue, I live a very healthy active lifestyle but I don't obsess over food or think about food that much. It's something I eat when I'm hungry to make me not hungry. So coming from that perspective I guess I got a little bit blindsided by the fact that people are so emotional about it. If I knew so many people were emotional about it I probably would have worded my original post differently.

    My intent was never to say my way was superior or other people's points of views were bad at all. I don't think that way at all.
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    Oh we hardly ever ate out. Too many kids, too expensive. I mean getting Burger King a few times a year was a huge deal and we'd just get burgers, we had to share a few fries.

    I continued that as I grew up - just because I was too cheap/frugal to eat out constantly. Once I got married though we ate out all the time until I learned how to meal plan and cook.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
    Same here - growing up. My mom cooked meals at home. However, I recently talked about this with others how - we had a meat, side dish (mashed potatoes) or a veggie and then at a lot of our meals my mom would have buttered bread (I guess instead of rolls).

    I try to view those as treats, but I also am like : I'm grown and there's no one stopping me, I can eat this more often because I enjoy it... -And that's where I got into trouble lol

    I do think of most of that as a treat - but some weeks I treat myself a couple times :wink:

  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    jessiferrrb wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.

    yaasss! going to kids houses that had poptarts was amazing! or just going to houses where they had free range to access the fridge. my mom would always monitor access to food and i felt like it was so cool when kids could make their own food decisions. except for my one friend who used to eat raw cheese filled hotdogs out of the fridge after school.

    Yeah, my mom never bought stuff like that. I can remember grocery shopping and I'd beg and plead for something besides oatmeal or cheerios..."like please can I have Lucky Charms fecking once before I die?"

    My pops had a bit of an affinity for chocolate doughnuts though...so he'd sneak me one here and there.

    I think alot of us were separated at birth.

    My folks were always waiting on the next depression to happen, so while they made middle class incomes, they were incredibly frugal and saved ~60% of their income (not exaggerating). I grew up with off brand generics like Oatey O's, bags of puffed rice and the cheapest foods in bulk imaginable. Pops was definitely the target demographic of Sams Club.

    Sleep overs were a blessing - Sodas! Name brand Sugar Frosted Bomb Flakes! Brand name Kool-Aid (not Wylers) with a full cup of sugar! Oh sweet joy!

    On rare occasions if I worked enough to earn my keep Pop would bring home a 2L of red cream soda.

    I see much of this a trade off with quality time over convenience.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    edited March 2017
    I am not sure if junk food is more widely accepted now than it was then. Keep in mind there are still plenty of clean, only orgnic, whatever whatever eaters out there.

    Assuming it is though: I wonder how much it has to do with the percentage of stay at home moms vs working moms. Not sure how much this has changed, but when I think about my friends growing up most of their mothers were sahm. Now that I am the age where my contemporaries are having children, most of the people I know both parents are still working. Obviously there are still plenty of both from each generation, but it seems like the "norm" is shifting. And that effects the homelife.

    Eta: i guess this all really applies more to the eating out more often side, doesnt really effect your grocery shopping choices much.
  • Kintsugi_Haikyo
    Kintsugi_Haikyo Posts: 361 Member
    edited March 2017
    I think that today, more than ever, people are very busy. For most office workers, like myself, it is easier to grab a meal to go instead of cooking dinner and eating at home. (edited for spelling)

    When I cook, I'm not just cooking. I'm also cleaning up afterward, then may go to the gym or play with the kids (or both). So it is a lot of work once I'm off work. Working late just makes making dinner at home all the more difficult.

    For me, I think I began to eat more junk food once I was living out of my parents house and making my own money. If you have enough extra money to spend, eating out is super convenient.

    But, that was the old me. After marriage and kids, I eat at home a lot more.
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