why were people so skinny in the 70s?

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Replies

  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    ccsernica wrote: »
    The soil is so depleted that the nutrient values of most produce has dropped anywhere from 10 to 80 percent in the last 70 years, for 'healthy' foods like broccoli, tomato, peppers, etc.
    This is nonsense. Studies that seem to show this have been pretty thoroughly debunked. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157516302113
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.
    Such as?

    Yeah, that's great hype and conspiracy theory.

    There are certainly a lot of new chains that didn't exist before but that's not the problem, that's simply supplying a demand. People eat out more, but it's not just the fast food restaurants, more upscale resturants always fight hard against any nutrional information laws because they have very high calorie counts there too. Boston Pizza pad thai has over 2000 calories just in one meal alone as an example.

    Certainly, people eat more and move less and most don't even realize how much they are really consuming.

    Four words:

    Claim Jumper
    Cheesecake Factory

    2 words:

    I'm hungry!

    Wait, is a contraction one or two words because then it's really 3 words...damn you English! ;)
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Well I grew up in the 70's and ate Mcdonald's once a week, ate school lunch every day (tater tots, pizza, sloppy joe's, lasagne etc.) drank soda, and ate lots of candy (went to the candy store everyday after school). So why was I so skinny? I never sat still and played till dinner time. So physical activity was the main reason.

    Same diet here, my most frequent lunch in high school was a plate of greasy chicken nuggets, fries, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and a Coke. My dad is from the south and almost everything we ate was fried in Crisco oil. I didn't get fat because the portions were not excessive and I was always physically active.
  • daveredvette
    daveredvette Posts: 88 Member
    as kids we played outside all day, McDonalds was a treat once a week
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    ccsernica wrote: »
    The soil is so depleted that the nutrient values of most produce has dropped anywhere from 10 to 80 percent in the last 70 years, for 'healthy' foods like broccoli, tomato, peppers, etc.
    This is nonsense. Studies that seem to show this have been pretty thoroughly debunked. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157516302113
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.
    Such as?

    Yeah, that's great hype and conspiracy theory.

    There are certainly a lot of new chains that didn't exist before but that's not the problem, that's simply supplying a demand. People eat out more, but it's not just the fast food restaurants, more upscale resturants always fight hard against any nutrional information laws because they have very high calorie counts there too. Boston Pizza pad thai has over 2000 calories just in one meal alone as an example.

    Certainly, people eat more and move less and most don't even realize how much they are really consuming.

    Four words:

    Claim Jumper
    Cheesecake Factory

    Claim Jumper has amazing huge portions. I got a sandwich there once that I'm pretty sure had two full avocados on it.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    There are certainly a lot of new chains that didn't exist before but that's not the problem, that's simply supplying a demand. People eat out more, but it's not just the fast food restaurants, more upscale resturants always fight hard against any nutrional information laws because they have very high calorie counts there too. Boston Pizza pad thai has over 2000 calories just in one meal alone as an example.

    Certainly, people eat more and move less and most don't even realize how much they are really consuming.

    ditto on that. I don't get why fast food establishments get all the flack they do.. it's quite easy to walk in there and order a reasonably-portioned item with a reasonable number of calories (even for my small 4'10" frame) for $1-2 off the dollar menu that they almost all have. That's going to be a much harder feat at most restaurants.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    ccsernica wrote: »
    The soil is so depleted that the nutrient values of most produce has dropped anywhere from 10 to 80 percent in the last 70 years, for 'healthy' foods like broccoli, tomato, peppers, etc.
    This is nonsense. Studies that seem to show this have been pretty thoroughly debunked. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157516302113
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.
    Such as?

    Yeah, that's great hype and conspiracy theory.

    There are certainly a lot of new chains that didn't exist before but that's not the problem, that's simply supplying a demand. People eat out more, but it's not just the fast food restaurants, more upscale resturants always fight hard against any nutrional information laws because they have very high calorie counts there too. Boston Pizza pad thai has over 2000 calories just in one meal alone as an example.

    Certainly, people eat more and move less and most don't even realize how much they are really consuming.

    Four words:

    Claim Jumper
    Cheesecake Factory

    Claim Jumper has amazing huge portions. I got a sandwich there once that I'm pretty sure had two full avocados on it.

    Yes, that place is ridiculous.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    ritzvin wrote: »
    There are certainly a lot of new chains that didn't exist before but that's not the problem, that's simply supplying a demand. People eat out more, but it's not just the fast food restaurants, more upscale resturants always fight hard against any nutrional information laws because they have very high calorie counts there too. Boston Pizza pad thai has over 2000 calories just in one meal alone as an example.

    Certainly, people eat more and move less and most don't even realize how much they are really consuming.

    ditto on that. I don't get why fast food establishments get all the flack they do.. it's quite easy to walk in there and order a reasonably-portioned item with a reasonable number of calories (even for my small 4'10" frame) for $1-2 off the dollar menu that they almost all have. That's going to be a much harder feat at most restaurants.

    A typical meal at McDonald's for me would be a hamburger and small fries with water or diet coke for about 500 calories. Certainly not the worst meal in the world and this would be normal in the 50's, except for the drink would be a small coke and the burger was slightly larger so maybe 700 calories total for a dinner. Most people wouldn't even recognize this as normal portions today even though this is what a normal portion of those items should look like.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Does anyone think the burgers are a lot smaller at Burger King than they were years ago. Maybe it was because i was young, but Whoppers used to be huge! They seem to have shrunk in size over the years...
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    One contributor is the introduction of chemical "obesogens" into our food chain. These chemicals alter how we store fat. It has so poisoned our food system that even wildlife are fatter than they were 30 years ago!

    Add that chemical alteration to a mostly sedentary lifestyle, bigger portion sizes and higher sugar consumption and you have an epidemic of obesity. Just look at the children. There is no reason a child should ever be over weight. They should have little fat burning engines just from the energy needed to grow.

    Wait, what? Can you post your sources? I mean, "obesogens"? That really sounds made up.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.

    Were you alive in the '70s? There were plenty of fast food options.

    Just off the top of my head:
    Jack in the Box
    McDonalds
    Carl's Jr.
    Wendy's
    Arby's
    Alfie's Fish & Chips
    Alberto's/Roberto's
    Long John Silver
    Taco Bell
    Naugles
    Burger King
    Kentucky Fried Chicken
    Der Weinerschnitzel
    Round Table Pizza
    Pizza Hut
    Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
    Dairy Queen
    etc. etc.

    Again, it depends on where you lived. I only recognize three of those names from back then. (And I was alive since the '60s).
  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.

    Were you alive in the '70s? There were plenty of fast food options.

    Just off the top of my head:
    Jack in the Box
    McDonalds
    Carl's Jr.
    Wendy's
    Arby's
    Alfie's Fish & Chips
    Alberto's/Roberto's
    Long John Silver
    Taco Bell
    Naugles
    Burger King
    Kentucky Fried Chicken
    Der Weinerschnitzel
    Round Table Pizza
    Pizza Hut
    Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
    Dairy Queen
    etc. etc.

    Again, it depends on where you lived. I only recognize three of those names from back then. (And I was alive since the '60s).

    Me, Mc Donalds.
    That's it.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.

    Were you alive in the '70s? There were plenty of fast food options.

    Just off the top of my head:
    Jack in the Box
    McDonalds
    Carl's Jr.
    Wendy's
    Arby's
    Alfie's Fish & Chips
    Alberto's/Roberto's
    Long John Silver
    Taco Bell
    Naugles
    Burger King
    Kentucky Fried Chicken
    Der Weinerschnitzel
    Round Table Pizza
    Pizza Hut
    Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
    Dairy Queen
    etc. etc.

    Again, it depends on where you lived. I only recognize three of those names from back then. (And I was alive since the '60s).

    I grew up in San Diego, CA (population around 700,000 in the '70s (not counting all the adjoining cities, which probably put the community as a whole at, or close to, 1,000,000 people). Huge variety of restaurants, foods from many different countries/ethnicities. And since we were not much more than a stone's throw from the international border, Mexican fast food restaurants were as omnipresent as Starbucks are nowadays - rolled tacos with guacamole, quesadillas and carne asada burritos everywhere you turned!

    Smorgasbord restaurants (nowadays called buffets or all-you-can-eat) were pretty popular too, we had several that we would hit on a fairly regular basis. It was an economical way for my parents to feed two teenage boys with insatiable appetites and the propensity to eat anything and everything that wasn't nailed down.

    I was in a small midwest community and college in a city of around 100k. Between those and 2-3 other communities in the 100k range I would be in on a regular basis and an occasional trip to the Chicago area I remember about half the list from the 70's in those areas.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    One contributor is the introduction of chemical "obesogens" into our food chain. These chemicals alter how we store fat. It has so poisoned our food system that even wildlife are fatter than they were 30 years ago!

    Add that chemical alteration to a mostly sedentary lifestyle, bigger portion sizes and higher sugar consumption and you have an epidemic of obesity. Just look at the children. There is no reason a child should ever be over weight. They should have little fat burning engines just from the energy needed to grow.

    Wait, what? Can you post your sources? I mean, "obesogens"? That really sounds made up.

    Ah Dr. Oz

    http://www.doctoroz.com/article/understanding-obesogens

    And here I just thought the poster above was being glib and making a joke. (a little sad for humanity that I might be wrong about that).
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    ritzvin wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    One contributor is the introduction of chemical "obesogens" into our food chain. These chemicals alter how we store fat. It has so poisoned our food system that even wildlife are fatter than they were 30 years ago!

    Add that chemical alteration to a mostly sedentary lifestyle, bigger portion sizes and higher sugar consumption and you have an epidemic of obesity. Just look at the children. There is no reason a child should ever be over weight. They should have little fat burning engines just from the energy needed to grow.

    Wait, what? Can you post your sources? I mean, "obesogens"? That really sounds made up.

    Ah Dr. Oz

    http://www.doctoroz.com/article/understanding-obesogens

    And here I just thought the poster above was being glib and making a joke. (a little sad for humanity that I might be wrong about that).

    Yeah, I kept reading the comment over to make sure I wasn't falling into the trap of making a serious response to sarcasm. Nope. I didn't think to look up "obesogens" on the web, it sounded too made-up.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.

    Were you alive in the '70s? There were plenty of fast food options.

    Just off the top of my head:
    Jack in the Box
    McDonalds
    Carl's Jr.
    Wendy's
    Arby's
    Alfie's Fish & Chips
    Alberto's/Roberto's
    Long John Silver
    Taco Bell
    Naugles
    Burger King
    Kentucky Fried Chicken
    Der Weinerschnitzel
    Round Table Pizza
    Pizza Hut
    Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
    Dairy Queen
    etc. etc.

    Again, it depends on where you lived. I only recognize three of those names from back then. (And I was alive since the '60s).

    Some of them are regional. Der Wienerschnitzel, Round Table Pizza, and Carl's Jr. are in the western part of the country. You may know Hardee's, and since a merger in 1997, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are essentially the same. I've lived on both coasts and I've never heard of Alfie's, Naugle's, or Alberto's; they may be Southern California only. On the East Coast we had Arthur Treacher's, Blimpie's, Roy Rogers, and a few others I've never encountered in California.
  • kellyjellybellyjelly
    kellyjellybellyjelly Posts: 9,480 Member
    ccsernica wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    joanl9 wrote: »
    Think of how many fast food places that didn't exist back then that exist now.

    Were you alive in the '70s? There were plenty of fast food options.

    Just off the top of my head:
    Jack in the Box
    McDonalds
    Carl's Jr.
    Wendy's
    Arby's
    Alfie's Fish & Chips
    Alberto's/Roberto's
    Long John Silver
    Taco Bell
    Naugles
    Burger King
    Kentucky Fried Chicken
    Der Weinerschnitzel
    Round Table Pizza
    Pizza Hut
    Baskin Robbins Ice Cream
    Dairy Queen
    etc. etc.

    Again, it depends on where you lived. I only recognize three of those names from back then. (And I was alive since the '60s).

    Some of them are regional. Der Wienerschnitzel, Round Table Pizza, and Carl's Jr. are in the western part of the country. You may know Hardee's, and since a merger in 1997, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are essentially the same. I've lived on both coasts and I've never heard of Alfie's, Naugle's, or Alberto's; they may be Southern California only. On the East Coast we had Arthur Treacher's, Blimpie's, Roy Rogers, and a few others I've never encountered in California.

    I remember eating at Roy Rogers in the 80's.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    katphi1618 wrote: »
    No helicopter parents, no TV/games if we wanted to see if friends could play we walked to their house first. My girlfriend and I use to walk 4 miles one way to hang out with friends and 8 miles the other to watch movies or go to the mall. If we wanted a soda we had to walk to the local gas station a mile up the road.

    My mother used to kick us out of the house if it was a nice day.
  • 70sthin
    70sthin Posts: 29 Member
    These posts have been great reading. This is a question I have thought about myself and is the reason I came up with my screen name when I first opened MFP account! I have seen pictures of my parents from the 1970s and couldn't believe how fit they were at the time. In fact, it wasn't until the 1990s that they started to beef up -- during my preteen-hood, that I recall junk food in the house and a transition from hot weekend breakfasts of eggs and bacon on the weekends to bowl after bowl of sugary boxed cerials. At the age of 13 I started dieting, something I'm sure my mother didn't need to do at 13! That was the beganing of my struggle determining what food is best for my body. I never was overweight, but I felt unhealthy in a lot of ways for a long time. I think our nation as a whole has become a whole lot more nutritionally versed because of the changes in our diets and I wonder if we will be healthy again.