why were people so skinny in the 70s?
Replies
-
angelexperiment wrote: »There were no gmo foods not like we have today. There weren't as much preservatives etc that came out in the 80s and 90s and then they came out with hfcs, and lowfat foods. They ate whole real foods not prepared boxed meals
Lolno. There were plenty of prepared/boxed meals in the '70s. "TV dinners" were pretty common fare, as were things like boxed macaroni and cheese, etc. Again, I suspect this is a perspective from somebody who wasn't even alive in the '70s.
[ETA:] And GMO has nothing whatsoever to do with obesity, nor do preservatives (which have been around a lot longer than you apparently think, btw).
The quality of frozen food has vastly improved since then, in fact. I still remember those TV dinners.
We also had plenty of Kraft mac and cheese when I was growing up. My mother used to fry up some hamburger, stir that into mac and cheese and heat some canned veggies, throw some bread and butter on the table and that would be dinner some nights.
Don't get me wrong, on other nights, we had scratch cooked meals. Though I have to say, most of the time, our vegetables came from cans. Corn and string beans. Corn and string beans. I don't remember anything else until suddenly they had frozen broccoli in cheese sauce in the store.7 -
This brings back so many memories. What a difference between the 50s and the 70s.
In the 50s, I never saw a fast food place or chain restaurant. Don't know if they existed or not. But when dad sold cattle or wheat (each once
A year), we got to go to town and get 5 hamburgers for $1 on Saturday night. We asked someone to eat with us, because there were only 4
Of us. The burgers were the size of McDonald's $1 burger now, but full of lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, so very filling. We didn't get anything
To drink, but they had 4 oz cokes at the drugstore.
In the 60s, there was an a&w about 40 miles away. A rare but oh so good treat.
We had a 9" black and white tv, and cable didn't exist? Or at least we hadn't heard of it. Everyone had antennas.
8 -
So how did this one get revived? Weird.
My own take, but individual like everyone else's, is that people ate less often and smaller portions, on average. Restaurant meals were less frequent, more meals were home cooked (although often using processed food/ingredients -- I think the idea that there was no processed food in the '70s is bizarre, the last time I had a Twinkie may have been 1980, heh). A ton more options exist for getting food delivered (and a huge range of foods) now, too.
Also, I think people on average were more active back then just in daily life.0 -
Less chemicals in the food itself and less processed food overall. Less cheap 'fast' food that is nothing but junk your body doesn't need.16
-
BrianSharpe wrote: »1. No Internet.
2. No video games.
3. Home cooked meals (from scratch)
4. Kids played outside after school.
5. Parents didn't drive kids everywhere, we rode our bikes or walked.
You hit it right on Brian, Especially 2 and 4. When we were kids in the 70's, we were always outside playing sports, hide and go seek, or kick the can and just always found something to do. Also like you said we rode our bikes everywhere and never sat at home and said "we're bored and there's nothing to do". Now it's all about iphone's and video games and kids don't know what to do with themselves without some electronic device in front of them and are lazy. A few years ago my daughter's teacher did an experiment and asked all of her students to go home and have no electronic devices for one week. She did it and said it was great. She played board games, read more, rode her bike more, and did a lot of drawing. More teachers or parents should do that with their kids to see what it was like when we were kids.3 -
It's really funny to read everyone's different perspectives of the 70s - even the differences of the people who grew up during them! I was a child of the 70s - we had 3 tv stations - and watched cartoons on Saturday mornings. If the sun was out, we were outside. I don't remember my mom driving me anywhere - I walked or rode my bike. As far as the poster who said that EVERYONE was smoking...must be a difference in parts of the country, because I didn't know ANY kids who smoked. We ate a lot of homemade stuff, but we also ate frozen pizza and tv dinners and stuff - so I think it really boils down to activity level. No cable. No internet. No video games. No computers. No cell phones. Get outside and DO something.
This is funny! We were watching Mad Men this weekend and my husband commented about everyone smoking like freight trains. He said, "Yeah I remember that is what it was like back then." I said, "I don't remember that. No one smoked where I grew up. If they did, they were considered "wild"." He grew up in GA and I grew up in KS.2 -
Less chemicals in the food itself and less processed food overall. Less cheap 'fast' food that is nothing but junk your body doesn't need.
I really don't think there were fewer "chemicals" in the food, and I don't see how that would make a difference -- it's how much you eat that is the issue.
Also, the '70s had a ton of processed foods (they often weren't as good or as varied as what's available today, and many of those available today are healthier, but variety and taste means they are probably even more commonly eaten). I recall fast food places being every bit as available, but CULTURALLY my family considered it an occasional treat so we didn't get it much. I think families today could take the same approach and of course some do.0 -
It's really funny to read everyone's different perspectives of the 70s - even the differences of the people who grew up during them! I was a child of the 70s - we had 3 tv stations - and watched cartoons on Saturday mornings. If the sun was out, we were outside. I don't remember my mom driving me anywhere - I walked or rode my bike. As far as the poster who said that EVERYONE was smoking...must be a difference in parts of the country, because I didn't know ANY kids who smoked. We ate a lot of homemade stuff, but we also ate frozen pizza and tv dinners and stuff - so I think it really boils down to activity level. No cable. No internet. No video games. No computers. No cell phones. Get outside and DO something.
This is funny! We were watching Mad Men this weekend and my husband commented about everyone smoking like freight trains. He said, "Yeah I remember that is what it was like back then." I said, "I don't remember that. No one smoked where I grew up. If they did, they were considered "wild"." He grew up in GA and I grew up in KS.
I didn’t know any kids who smoked, I was a kid then. But almost every adult I knew smoked and as I recall it wasn’t until the late70’s that restaurants even had a no smoking section!
I lived in an urban environment- no body I knew had a garden, most everyone had a tv but there were only a handful of channels ( no cable) and only one rich kid I knew even owned a vcr. Most of my friends had abut 1/2 prepackaged meals (Mac and cheese, hamburger helper) and 1/2 scratch meals at home. Veggies (except iceberg lettuce and tomatoes and onions/celery/carrots) were usually the canned variety. Big Mac was introduced in the 70’s if I recall correctly - the regular hamburger was considered a normal size. French fries (regular size) were about 1/2 a current small and came in a paper not cardboard sleeve.
So, my experience was much less processed foods, and eating out portions were much smaller. People smoked. There wasn’t much on TV so one probably watched a few hours a week of stuff they loved (+ live sports if they were sports people). I’m guessing the sum was that people I knew ate more healthy foods (but less variety), smaller portions, sat in front of a screen less, and probably smoked. Sounds like a recipe for thinner.0 -
It's really funny to read everyone's different perspectives of the 70s - even the differences of the people who grew up during them! I was a child of the 70s - we had 3 tv stations - and watched cartoons on Saturday mornings. If the sun was out, we were outside. I don't remember my mom driving me anywhere - I walked or rode my bike. As far as the poster who said that EVERYONE was smoking...must be a difference in parts of the country, because I didn't know ANY kids who smoked. We ate a lot of homemade stuff, but we also ate frozen pizza and tv dinners and stuff - so I think it really boils down to activity level. No cable. No internet. No video games. No computers. No cell phones. Get outside and DO something.
This is funny! We were watching Mad Men this weekend and my husband commented about everyone smoking like freight trains. He said, "Yeah I remember that is what it was like back then." I said, "I don't remember that. No one smoked where I grew up. If they did, they were considered "wild"." He grew up in GA and I grew up in KS.
I didn’t know any kids who smoked, I was a kid then. But almost every adult I knew smoked and as I recall it wasn’t until the late70’s that restaurants even had a no smoking section!
I lived in an urban environment- no body I knew had a garden, most everyone had a tv but there were only a handful of channels ( no cable) and only one rich kid I knew even owned a vcr. Most of my friends had abut 1/2 prepackaged meals (Mac and cheese, hamburger helper) and 1/2 scratch meals at home. Veggies (except iceberg lettuce and tomatoes and onions/celery/carrots) were usually the canned variety. Big Mac was introduced in the 70’s if I recall correctly - the regular hamburger was considered a normal size. French fries (regular size) were about 1/2 a current small and came in a paper not cardboard sleeve.
So, my experience was much less processed foods, and eating out portions were much smaller.
Interesting. I recall meals being pretty similar to what you describe, although we ate mostly meat, potato, veg, with the veg often canned, at all dinners. Portions at fast food restaurants -- not all restaurants -- were definitely smaller (although more for adults, as kid's meals are still the smaller sizes, no?). I also recall fast food being a kid's thing in the circles I was in -- we'd go after some event as a treat, my family would not eat there, unless on a road trip -- but then that's kind of how I think of it now, I don't know many people who eat fast food much, and when people pick up food for lunch it isn't huge portions or McD or whatever.
What you describe doesn't sound like "less processed foods" than what I experience/see today (half and half seems about right, although for some that means much more and for some that means less). I suppose what you think of as the norm for today is going to influence what you think has changed.
Vegetables, especially fresh, are available in much more variety today, IME, although given the stats people don't consume them more (again, I expect this differs by family).
Activity level seems different to me, for sure.0 -
This content has been removed.
-
angelexperiment wrote: »There were no gmo foods not like we have today. There weren't as much preservatives etc that came out in the 80s and 90s and then they came out with hfcs, and lowfat foods. They ate whole real foods not prepared boxed meals
Lol...seemed like there were cans of some kind of condensed "soup" in just about every recipe from the 70s.
Kraft mac 'n cheese was readily served, as was hamburger helper...and god awful t.v. dinners.
I actually think scratch food preparation is more trendy now than it's been in a very long time.
Looking at statistics, close to 1/2 of the US population in the 70s was overweight...to include the obese and morbidly obese. The biggest shift in that statistic has been many more people being classified as obese or morbidly obese rather than simply being overweight today...but "everyone was skinny in the 70s" is a fallacy.
I think the most troubling concern is the rise in childhood obesity...3 -
So I'm trying to figure out why people were so skinny about 40 years ago vs today....here are some reasons i can think of and i want to know yours:
1. little to none high fructose corn syrup
2. more activity.....people didnt sit on their computers and smart phones all day
these are just two main ones i can think of, anyone else have any ideas?
#2 is the big one. #1 makes no sense. We ate plenty of sugar in the 70's.1 -
Restaurants didn’t serve massive portions like they do now!1
-
l1bbylabel7 wrote: »Restaurants didn’t serve massive portions like they do now!
See my post further upthread - I distinctly remember plenty of restaurants which served massive proportions. And fast food portions like a McDonalds Big Mac or Carl's Jr. Super Star are the same size now as they were in the '70s.7 -
Less chemicals in the food itself and less processed food overall. Less cheap 'fast' food that is nothing but junk your body doesn't need.
I honestly don't think there were fewer "chemicals" in the food. If anything, there were probably more.
People have gotten more savvy and demanding about additives in food and regulations regarding them have tightened up in comparison to how things used to be.
The only real change that I'm aware of is the shift from using sugar to high fructose corn syrup.4 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Less chemicals in the food itself and less processed food overall. Less cheap 'fast' food that is nothing but junk your body doesn't need.
I really don't think there were fewer "chemicals" in the food, and I don't see how that would make a difference -- it's how much you eat that is the issue.
Also, the '70s had a ton of processed foods (they often weren't as good or as varied as what's available today, and many of those available today are healthier, but variety and taste means they are probably even more commonly eaten). I recall fast food places being every bit as available, but CULTURALLY my family considered it an occasional treat so we didn't get it much. I think families today could take the same approach and of course some do.
Exactly this. Also, CULTURALLY, we didn't really snack or eat all the time the way people do now. We had after school snacks, but I think that's normal.
Back to your point about fast food being a limited thing, in general, take out, fast food, and dining out in general was a limited thing back then. Back then, I think the cost represented a greater share of your income than it does now, so it was likely more expensive, and that might have been part of why it was only an occasional thing, but I'm grasping at straws here. No one around us did it all that often.4 -
I was in my 20's in the 70's.
So, I have a very good recollection of that time period and, in general, people were particularly skinny then and were NOT notably skinnier then than now.
There was also a lot of TV watching going on among children (which was a cause of concern then and now) and there was relatively little concern placed on eating well and exercise to enhance health and fitness; much less so then than now.1 -
l1bbylabel7 wrote: »Restaurants didn’t serve massive portions like they do now!
See my post further upthread - I distinctly remember plenty of restaurants which served massive proportions. And fast food portions like a McDonalds Big Mac or Carl's Jr. Super Star are the same size now as they were in the '70s.
Well, I remember going to McDonalds before in the very early 70's, maybe even the late 60's before they introduced the Big Macs and Quarter Pounders and such. The hamburgers were just... hamburgers. The regular size plain hamburgers you can get, and they only had the one size fry, which I think is now the small. Same for the drink.
It wasn't that the sizes changed, the just kept adding options to get bigger sizes in addition to what they already had.3 -
I'm 67 and powerfully remember the 70's. Extreme thinness became popular in the 60's in particular in response to supermodels like Twiggy. I had a girlfriend in high school who literally took Twiggy's weight, figured out the pound to height ratio and then used this ration to define her own "perfect weight". She was taller than me (5'8) and her ideal weight ended up being 98 pounds.1
-
I reckon in the 70s people didn't eat out so often.. I was a child then, eating out happened once or twice a year for our family back then. Even getting a takeaway was a treat that only happened every few months.1
-
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »I reckon in the 70s people didn't eat out so often.. I was a child then, eating out happened once or twice a year for our family back then. Even getting a takeaway was a treat that only happened every few months.
Definitely not the case in my family, nor most of the people I knew. We went out to dinner once or twice a week and often for breakfast with other families on the weekend.
I think a lot of the experiences related in threads like this are individual, regional or cultural - not generational or reflective of society as a whole. IMO, the biggest difference in society between then and now is that we move a lot less now and (as a generality) don't teach children healthy habits to carry into adulthood. Fat, inactive kids grow into fat, inactive adults and raise their own fat, inactive kids.6 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »I reckon in the 70s people didn't eat out so often.. I was a child then, eating out happened once or twice a year for our family back then. Even getting a takeaway was a treat that only happened every few months.
I was also a child in the 70's. We had dinner out every Sunday on our way to visit my grandmother. Takeout wasn't often though because options where I grew up were very limited until I was in high school. But we had KFC 2-3 times a month. That's really the only takeout options I remember until the late 70's when Taco Bell came to town.
Chain restaurants weren't much of a thing back then where I lived either. Mostly just local restaurants.. There was a Howard Johnson's but it was not close to us so we only went there an special occasions.0 -
I'm 67 and powerfully remember the 70's. Extreme thinness became popular in the 60's in particular in response to supermodels like Twiggy. I had a girlfriend in high school who literally took Twiggy's weight, figured out the pound to height ratio and then used this ration to define her own "perfect weight". She was taller than me (5'8) and her ideal weight ended up being 98 pounds.
I remember Twiggy well and couldn't understand how looking like her became "a thing." I agree, it started the emaciation era.
1 -
well this was fun
and the top choice- from the entirety of the thread was "cocaine"
In summation:
The government puts special ingredients in our food these days to make us fat.
Cocaine
People were emotionally happier and didn't eat their feelings
smoking
hippies were poor and couldn't afford food
the Mexicans have stolen our jobs.
good to know.
I would argue Ron Jeremy was around- and I don't think that man has ever been skinny- soooo yeah.5 -
Soul_Radiation wrote: »I think over time, TV has been deleterious and pernicious.
It's like a drug.
We need to sit on the couch -> LESS
There's plenty of healthy people...I'm working on getting back into a good shape...go to the park after work, and what do I see?
Tons of people in good shape. They are at the park running around, walking, riding their bikes...being outside.
They aren't home guzzling beer and eating pizza rolls and watching TV.
Okay, but on a given Saturday you will see me both places . . . running in the park and then later drinking a beer on the couch while watching TV. Real people do a variety of things8 -
How come GMOs are only supposed to make us magically fat and not, like, magically have superpowers?6
-
I was in high school in the 70's and very active with school - debate, drama and other clubs. Played D&D on the weekends with friends, played football/softball with friends also. I ate fast food as often as I ate home cooked meals - mom had a strict policy of be at the table when I serve food or fend for yourself. Graduated high school weighing 150 lbs (at 5' 8" so right in the BMI range). The difference between then and now - activity, plain and simple. We were always out doing something, on the go and never slowing down.
I currently live in a neighborhood with lots of kids and if I see or hear a kid outside now (except for going to their car or going into the house from the car) it's a red-letter day.2 -
well this was fun
and the top choice- from the entirety of the thread was "cocaine"
In summation:
The government puts special ingredients in our food these days to make us fat.
Cocaine
People were emotionally happier and didn't eat their feelings
smoking
hippies were poor and couldn't afford food
the Mexicans have stolen our jobs.
good to know.
I would argue Ron Jeremy was around- and I don't think that man has ever been skinny- soooo yeah.
4 -
My mother was obese, my father was overweight, and I was overweight in the 1970's. My father had half his stomach butchered off to treat an ulcer in 1973. After that he couldn't eat enough to stay overweight. Oh, and mom was addicted to and abusing every drug in the pharmacy.2
-
I think a lot of the experiences related in threads like this are individual, regional or cultural - not generational or reflective of society as a whole.
Yeah, this always strikes me, including when people generalize about how people eat today. It differs a ton between different people and sub-groups, so you really cannot generalize. I know many people who are into cooking from scratch now, far more than I do people who eat lots of fast food or never eat vegetables or whatever other generalization people wish to make.IMO, the biggest difference in society between then and now is that we move a lot less now and (as a generality) don't teach children healthy habits to carry into adulthood. Fat, inactive kids grow into fat, inactive adults and raise their own fat, inactive kids.
I do think this is a fair generalization, however.2
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions