When did junk food/sweets/fast food stop being just an occasional treat?
Options
Replies
-
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.3 -
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.0
-
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.1
-
jessiferrrb wrote: »Chef_Barbell 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.
3 -
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.2 -
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
3 -
jessiferrrb wrote: »Chef_Barbell 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.
I certainly did not take you as thinking your way was in any way superior. I would hope that others did not take it that way either.6 -
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.1 -
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.2 -
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.0 -
I am 42 years and when I was growing up we went to restaurants for birthdays or anniversaries. We didn't eat fast food often just occasionally. My mom was a sahm until I was a teenager.
We did not eat or drink in our car ever. We did not pack snacks when we went places. We just did not expect to snack when we left the house.
We had plenty of processed packaged foods regularly. Chips. Spam. Cheese product. Sugary cereals. Snack cakes. Cookies. Snacks were dry cereal or popcorn mostly.
Homemade desserts were for special occasions.
We didn't drink much pop or seafood because a family member couldn't have those things. Drank water often.
When I was a teenager we got more things like frozen pizzas, pop, and so on. Much more eating out.
We had one tv, no cable, no game systems, no computer. My mom told me to go play outside a lot.
I walked to school until I was a teenager.
I don't really feel emotional about food. I was not a binge eater. I didn't have a weight problem although my parents were overweight.
My parents never really made me eat things I didn't like much. I don't consider myself a picky eater. I liked salty foods more than sweets. I loved cheese, fresh cherries and mushrooms. I liked tomatoes, brussel sprouts and lima beans.
I'd say the food I ate changed as a teenager and young adult. My weight problems started in my mid twenties when I became much more sedentary and sleep deprived.
0 -
@KassLea22 Since you mention a wide span of time including your childhood, I'll present the possibility that as the cost of calories has fallen throughout our lifetimes, an ever greater percentage of the population has the wherewithal to purchase calories which have been arranged in seductively attractive forms.
With that said, German's Chocolate Cake was a recipe for a treat introduced many decades ago. It became popular in many areas of the USA because most of the ingredients were commonly available everywhere, and only 2 of the ingredients, coconut and the chocolate, were exotic enough that the time and cost of acquiring them rendered the final arrangement of calories a seductively attractive treat. This in a way resembles the way music was spread before the phonograph. Music was sold as sheet music and people had to learn to play it for themselves.
I distinctly remember a sweet peanut-buttery bar that my sisters learned in the mid 1960's from my father's aunt who was born in 1878. My mother, born 1927, told a story of her father making the treat of hoe cakes when her mother was out of the house.
In the time of Andrew Jackson, an early American President, his wealth allowed him to supply his kitchen with sugar bought in 100-lb sacks. Once in his great house, it was stored in a large safe under lock and key.3 -
JeromeBarry1 wrote: »@KassLea22 Since you mention a wide span of time including your childhood, I'll present the possibility that as the cost of calories has fallen throughout our lifetimes, an ever greater percentage of the population has the wherewithal to purchase calories which have been arranged in seductively attractive forms.
Thanks for the reply. I'm not entirely sure I understand what you were trying to say. would you care to elaborate?
0 -
Rarely when I grew up, in fact cake and pie were reserved for birthdays and holidays! Granted, thats a long time ago. We never had snacks and pop tarts and twinkies weren't invented yet.
edited to be more descriptive of my era.0 -
I'm 44, about to turn 45. We had Little Debbie, ice cream, and other so-called "junk" food in the house all the time when I was a kid. And we ate it almost daily, along with cereal/Pop-Tarts for most breakfasts, sandwiches usually for lunch, and usually a home cooked meal for dinner. I never had any weight or health issues (other than being maybe a little underweight until I was in my late 20s, early 30s. And that was basically because I - for a handful of reasons - became less active and didn't adjust my eating accordingly.
Looking back on your OP, you seemed to have these same opportunities, but simply chose otherwise. I don't think there's truly been a big shift in the treatment of "junk" foods - just a slight change in choices. Additionally, I'd bet the simple explosion of the internet and social media has just made you more aware of it.1 -
I grew up in the 70s. Cake, candy, soda, and chips were special occasion foods, but I had a Hostess cupcake or 3 Chips Ahoy cookies pretty much every day of my first 15 years or so.
We hardly ever went to restaurants or fast food places, but got Chinese take out and pizza once a week each.
My mom made a mean roasted chicken and her own tomato sauce, but we would sometimes have fishsticks & tater tots, or hot dogs and canned baked beans instead. Also most of our veggies were canned, but we always had fresh fruit. I did eat an inordinate amount of Oscar Meyer bologna and Kraft singles.
I don't buy packaged snack cakes anymore, but there is always a package of Oreos on my counter. I probably cook a little more whole food type meals than my mom did, but I still get Chinese and pizza once a week each. And I went from drinking regular soda on special occasions to drinking Coke Zero every damn day.
I have no idea what any of that means, but it is what it is :drinker:3 -
I'm 44, about to turn 45. We had Little Debbie, ice cream, and other so-called "junk" food in the house all the time when I was a kid. And we ate it almost daily, along with cereal/Pop-Tarts for most breakfasts, sandwiches usually for lunch, and usually a home cooked meal for dinner. I never had any weight or health issues (other than being maybe a little underweight until I was in my late 20s, early 30s. And that was basically because I - for a handful of reasons - became less active and didn't adjust my eating accordingly.
Looking back on your OP, you seemed to have these same opportunities, but simply chose otherwise. I don't think there's truly been a big shift in the treatment of "junk" foods - just a slight change in choices. Additionally, I'd bet the simple explosion of the internet and social media has just made you more aware of it.
That's a very good point
0 -
dupe post, whoops0
-
Why do these items have to be occasional treats? How often is occasional? What's wrong with having them daily?
I didn't have a lot of fast food growing up because I lived in a small town that didn't/couldn't support fast food places. My parents were working and raising 5 kids. I generally had free time on my hands and my folks didn't give much care about what I ate as long as I was quiet while Mom was sleeping and came home when it got dark out. I ate plenty of junk food, probably 90% of my diet was candy bars, beef jerky, soda pop, and potato chips.
Eating dessert twice a day keeps me from getting stabby. Apologies that that doesn't fit in your world.
To be honest, I'm a little surprised by the hostility. I don't think that I'm being rude or judgmental, in fact I have said that I am not advocating towards any persons diet. And I never said my way was the right way. I just think it's interesting that while one person can view cookies as a treat, another person can view cookies as something that is needed every day. And maybe it was the culture of the neighborhood I grew up in, or my state, or just the people I was around but those things were always considered treats so when I realize people didn't consider them treats it was just interesting to me.
It's also interesting that one person can view food as such an emotional personal issue, while someone else just views it as a non-issue.
You read hostility in interesting places.
I'd like to hear your answers to my questions since we seem to have opposing views on what is a treat and how often is occasionally.0 -
I think often what we think is a change is society is actually just us becoming more aware of a broader range of society. When we were kids we didn't have the internet, and the people we knew were generally people like us - same location, same demographic etc etc. Now, as adults, we have access to the whole world and instead of recognising that we now see a hugely broader cross section of society, we interpret it as a change in the society we knew as kids.
On the topic at hand, in my experience my grandparent's generation always followed dinner with dessert. There were always baked goods in the house, an empty cake/cookie tin was an embarrassment for my grandma. They may not have had store bought treats around as much, but there were certainly "treats" in abundance.2
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 393 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 931 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions