why were people so skinny in the 70s?
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I remember the 70s pretty well. As a rapid growing kid (I pretty much peaked in 8th grade/9th grade in height to 5' 10") and the youngest of six, food was pretty basic. If we got Pop Tarts or Cereal, that was a treat. You'd look in the pantry and it was either Peanut Butter or Oatmeal a lot of days. I do think the convenience foods (both at home and out) contribute to obesity, along with lack of exercise today. Soda was also a huge treat back then, not something you drank morning, noon and night (I live in Southern Ohio, where the breakfast of champions is Mountain Dew, Cigarettes and BBQ chips and I'm not kidding).1
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This is really interesting. I grew up playing outside every day, TV was only on for an hour max per day with Saturday morning cartoons being the exception, mom cooked all our meals and we had reasonable portions and one plate (though we did the 'don't get up until the last bite is eaten'), we never had fast food, pizza was home made and restaurants didn't really happen unless it was a family event of some sort. We did have sweets and candy bars for snacks and mom liberally buttered and salted all food, but I was always super active playing with friends outside for hours and hours.
And yet, I was a fat kid. So I'm not really sure on the whole 'we were more active, normal portion sizes' hypothesis.
In any case nicotine is an appetite suppressant and for adults I'm convinced there's a correlation.5 -
So, I was a kid in the 70's. I can assure you that sugar and processed foods abounded and parents were far less hung up on it than parents are now (seems like every kid in my class had Twinkies or cupcakes or Oreos in their lunches every day). We did NOT eat meals cooked from scratch every night (my mom worked nights, Dad made us frozen chicken pot pies, hot dogs, or something out of a can) or grow our own food. We had PE twice a week (my kids now have it 3x) and we ate fast food at least once a week, sometimes more, since we had piano lessons, soccer practices, and assorted other things in the evenings that prevented us from eating at home on those nights. I took the bus to and from school. We played outside sometimes on weekends, but were just as likely to be inside doing chores or dragged to some event by my parents. We played video games for hours on end. We ate cereal and drank juice for breakfast every morning and took PB&J in our sack lunches. Granola bars were health food. We overdid it on candy every holiday. We drank soda multiple times a week. In spite of all this I was a skinny kid. So were almost all my friends.
Some of the people posting here seem to be confusing the 70's with the pioneer days, lol.
Bottom line is that I don't know why people were skinnier then because people seem a lot more health conscious now. I do think that people eat in restaurants more often now, but probably not that much more. Portions are probably larger. Kids have somewhat less free time, but not that much less, we had school and homework and working parents and lots of activities back then, too. It sure seems to me that there has to be something else going on.5 -
I also believe that the food industry is guilty of using additives that have a known addictive effect. The cigarette industry was caught red-handed doing that and they were forced to stop the additives. We have grown to crave sugars and salt and highly seasoned foods. It's like we have to be over-stimulated to be satisfied. Also, what you said, much less activity and poor eating habits.
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Larger portions, housewives would cook dinner, more likely to walk/bike instead of drive, more pressure to stay thin, less options for plus size clothing, gov't didn't subsidize the crap out of sugar and corn, etc...2
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There's the obvious... all the fast food and little to no exercise. Working an office job and sitting in front of a computer all day instead of moving around and then coming home and being too tired to work out surely plays a part.
But what about prescription medications? It's been estimated that upwards of 1/4 of people on an antidepressant gains weight. These medications are a lot more prevalent now than they were in the 70's.5 -
So, I was a kid in the 70's. I can assure you that sugar and processed foods abounded and parents were far less hung up on it than parents are now (seems like every kid in my class had Twinkies or cupcakes or Oreos in their lunches every day). We did NOT eat meals cooked from scratch every night (my mom worked nights, Dad made us frozen chicken pot pies, hot dogs, or something out of a can) or grow our own food. We had PE twice a week (my kids now have it 3x) and we ate fast food at least once a week, sometimes more, since we had piano lessons, soccer practices, and assorted other things in the evenings that prevented us from eating at home on those nights. I took the bus to and from school. We played outside sometimes on weekends, but were just as likely to be inside doing chores or dragged to some event by my parents. We played video games for hours on end. We ate cereal and drank juice for breakfast every morning and took PB&J in our sack lunches. Granola bars were health food. We overdid it on candy every holiday. We drank soda multiple times a week. In spite of all this I was a skinny kid. So were almost all my friends.
Some of the people posting here seem to be confusing the 70's with the pioneer days, lol.
Bottom line is that I don't know why people were skinnier then because people seem a lot more health conscious now. I do think that people eat in restaurants more often now, but probably not that much more. Portions are probably larger. Kids have somewhat less free time, but not that much less, we had school and homework and working parents and lots of activities back then, too. It sure seems to me that there has to be something else going on.
Different from you, in high school we had PE DAILY. So 5 days a week. I took it every year, I loved it. We had so many different classes, gymnastics, slimnastics, modern dance, all the team sports, running. Snacks were not something we did in my home, and like others said we didn't eat out much, soda was a treat--we rarely had it in my house and we had to ask permission to eat or drink anything (but water). That was probably a big difference from many families.1 -
People didn't stay cooped up inside or glued to a screen, like they are now. People also did stuff, alot of stuff, that wasn't sitting down at a desk.2
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lucerorojo wrote: »So, I was a kid in the 70's. I can assure you that sugar and processed foods abounded and parents were far less hung up on it than parents are now (seems like every kid in my class had Twinkies or cupcakes or Oreos in their lunches every day). We did NOT eat meals cooked from scratch every night (my mom worked nights, Dad made us frozen chicken pot pies, hot dogs, or something out of a can) or grow our own food. We had PE twice a week (my kids now have it 3x) and we ate fast food at least once a week, sometimes more, since we had piano lessons, soccer practices, and assorted other things in the evenings that prevented us from eating at home on those nights. I took the bus to and from school. We played outside sometimes on weekends, but were just as likely to be inside doing chores or dragged to some event by my parents. We played video games for hours on end. We ate cereal and drank juice for breakfast every morning and took PB&J in our sack lunches. Granola bars were health food. We overdid it on candy every holiday. We drank soda multiple times a week. In spite of all this I was a skinny kid. So were almost all my friends.
Some of the people posting here seem to be confusing the 70's with the pioneer days, lol.
Bottom line is that I don't know why people were skinnier then because people seem a lot more health conscious now. I do think that people eat in restaurants more often now, but probably not that much more. Portions are probably larger. Kids have somewhat less free time, but not that much less, we had school and homework and working parents and lots of activities back then, too. It sure seems to me that there has to be something else going on.
Different from you, in high school we had PE DAILY. So 5 days a week. I took it every year, I loved it. We had so many different classes, gymnastics, slimnastics, modern dance, all the team sports, running. Snacks were not something we did in my home, and like others said we didn't eat out much, soda was a treat--we rarely had it in my house and we had to ask permission to eat or drink anything (but water). That was probably a big difference from many families.
I wasn't alive in the 70's, but PE was required in my school up until 11th grade when it became an elective. This was the early 2000's. I don't recall there really being a lot of overweight people in my class at all. But even when I was a child we played outside all the time after school. Summers were spent biking around the neighborhood and playing sports and tag. I don't see kids outside playing like they used to anymore because there's so much concern for their safety. So much has changed in a lot shorter period of time than the 70's.4 -
Round and round we go...5
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So, I was a kid in the 70's. I can assure you that sugar and processed foods abounded and parents were far less hung up on it than parents are now (seems like every kid in my class had Twinkies or cupcakes or Oreos in their lunches every day). We did NOT eat meals cooked from scratch every night (my mom worked nights, Dad made us frozen chicken pot pies, hot dogs, or something out of a can) or grow our own food. We had PE twice a week (my kids now have it 3x) and we ate fast food at least once a week, sometimes more, since we had piano lessons, soccer practices, and assorted other things in the evenings that prevented us from eating at home on those nights. I took the bus to and from school. We played outside sometimes on weekends, but were just as likely to be inside doing chores or dragged to some event by my parents. We played video games for hours on end. We ate cereal and drank juice for breakfast every morning and took PB&J in our sack lunches. Granola bars were health food. We overdid it on candy every holiday. We drank soda multiple times a week. In spite of all this I was a skinny kid. So were almost all my friends.
Some of the people posting here seem to be confusing the 70's with the pioneer days, lol.
Bottom line is that I don't know why people were skinnier then because people seem a lot more health conscious now. I do think that people eat in restaurants more often now, but probably not that much more. Portions are probably larger. Kids have somewhat less free time, but not that much less, we had school and homework and working parents and lots of activities back then, too. It sure seems to me that there has to be something else going on.
I guess it depends on how you grew up.
We didn't have such snacks. Now I did eat Apple Jacks every morning. But snack cakes, not so much. Soft drinks were a Thanksgiving treat. The rest of the year is was water or 2% milk.
I don't know what video games you had in the 1970s? Pong? Heck, I don't think we even had a McDonalds in my hometown until 1981 or 1982. The only McD's trips for us were if the church youth group traveled. My teen boy body could down two Big Macs, Fries and a Coke. But it was a very rate event.
It was pioneer days in our house. Granny canned fruits and vegetables for the winter. We had chickens in the hen house so eggs and the Sunday chicken often came from out back. We lived in town, at the edge, but still in town. So we were on the line between farm and "city" if you call population 7500 a city.
I made money by mowing laws, detasseling corn, and bucking bales of hay.
Life was very different for my kids some 30 years later compared to what I grew up with.3 -
Why rely on personal anecdotes when there's good data that answers the question?
We eat more. Period. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/7 -
Eating out was rare... fast food restaurants where few..also a treat to go..i remember Burger King 10 cent burger night.something like that..we'd all load up and go once in a while. yet my mom would never let us get the whole shebang .. never burger fries and a coke..just two of them. It was so hard to choose.
We ate at the table and had meal times. We played outside all the time ..never sat around and watched t.v. We didn't drink soda either. As the youngest of six.. i have to say i was hungry all the time. I was a rail.1 -
Why rely on personal anecdotes when there's good data that answers the question?
We eat more. Period. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/
Yep. Every time this thread gets resurrected it just adds anecdotes. But I have no idea why people think that conditions where they lived (and based solely on their memory) were necessarily universal. Whether you lived in a rural, suburban, or urban area, what country you were in, what economic class your neighborhood was in, whether your parents/community were traditional or progressive, whether they were health-minded or not, whether you were raised in a single or two-parent home, whether you were a sheltered child or were often out in public or other family's homes... all of these would affect many of the factors everyone is bringing up.
Not sure why all of this seems more compelling than we moved quite a bit more and ate less. I mean, I'm sure other factors might have had an effect, but the most obvious answer is pretty simple and I think apparent.<shrugs>6 -
Why rely on personal anecdotes when there's good data that answers the question?
We eat more. Period. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/
Yep. Every time this thread gets resurrected it just adds anecdotes. But I have no idea why people think that conditions where they lived (and based solely on their memory) were necessarily universal. Whether you lived in a rural, suburban, or urban area, what country you were in, what economic class your neighborhood was in, whether your parents/community were traditional or progressive, whether they were health-minded or not, whether you were raised in a single or two-parent home, whether you were a sheltered child or were often out in public or other family's homes... all of these would affect many of the factors everyone is bringing up.
Not sure why all of this seems more compelling than we moved quite a bit more and ate less. I mean, I'm sure other factors might have had an effect, but the most obvious answer is pretty simple and I think apparent.<shrugs>
^ Agree. Well said. It's obvious from all the anecdotes in this thread that everybody's experiences in the '70s were vastly different.5 -
Thanks for posting that link. It says we eat 23% more calories than in 1970s. That's a lot. The Tdee of my goal weight of 138 is 1600 calories. If I were to eat 23% more, that's 2000 Cal's per day, which is the TDEE of my current weight 191 lbs.2
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love , drugs, sex and rock and roll!2
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Well, I am 58 so remember the 70's very well. No one had as much disposable income in those days, plus there were no real fast food shops, the chip shop, wimpy, but these were a treat not a given. The front of everyone's house was always swept and kept clean and tidy. We all walked much more and we played outside when we got home from school. No one sat at home drinking red wine, my parents would maybe go to the pub once a week and have a couple of half pints of beer. In general, people were as you said were generally far more active and not pushing calorific things down their throats on a daily basis. However, one bad thing was that a good percentage did smoke, so some false economy going on.
My wife and I have just been away on holiday to Greece, we don't go abroad that often, the last time we stayed in a Hotel in Greece was a good few years ago, I remember most locals looked far more healthy and fit than we all did, however this time I would say that over 65% of under 30's were overweight, we were very surprised. It is the generation that they have been brought up in, which I really do not see improving nationally or Internationally, it has to be a personal thing. Hence I train 3/5 times a week and manage my diet or I could be in M&S buying expandable pants ;-)2 -
Have you ever noticed how lean everyone was in photos from the 1940's? It was the postwar era and most people lived with sugar and flour rations. And as you can imagine, they were much more active then as well.1
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I'm sitting in front of a relic right now: The Baylor Family Cookbook, courtesy of the Baylor University Baptist Student Union. It's not dated, but I believe it is circa late 70's. It's legit: type-written and bound with metal rings.
Trust me, they still had sugar in everything.
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During the early 70s LSD and high experimentation was popular. Drugs we're available LSD was legal till the Early 70s. Meeting at parks and outdoor concerts were still a big thing.0
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Why rely on personal anecdotes when there's good data that answers the question?
We eat more. Period. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/
Yep. Every time this thread gets resurrected it just adds anecdotes. But I have no idea why people think that conditions where they lived (and based solely on their memory) were necessarily universal. Whether you lived in a rural, suburban, or urban area, what country you were in, what economic class your neighborhood was in, whether your parents/community were traditional or progressive, whether they were health-minded or not, whether you were raised in a single or two-parent home, whether you were a sheltered child or were often out in public or other family's homes... all of these would affect many of the factors everyone is bringing up.
Not sure why all of this seems more compelling than we moved quite a bit more and ate less. I mean, I'm sure other factors might have had an effect, but the most obvious answer is pretty simple and I think apparent.<shrugs>
^ Agree. Well said. It's obvious from all the anecdotes in this thread that everybody's experiences in the '70s were vastly different.
It's still fun to read about them and maybe take a little trip down memory lane.
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RaeBeeBaby wrote: »Why rely on personal anecdotes when there's good data that answers the question?
We eat more. Period. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/
Yep. Every time this thread gets resurrected it just adds anecdotes. But I have no idea why people think that conditions where they lived (and based solely on their memory) were necessarily universal. Whether you lived in a rural, suburban, or urban area, what country you were in, what economic class your neighborhood was in, whether your parents/community were traditional or progressive, whether they were health-minded or not, whether you were raised in a single or two-parent home, whether you were a sheltered child or were often out in public or other family's homes... all of these would affect many of the factors everyone is bringing up.
Not sure why all of this seems more compelling than we moved quite a bit more and ate less. I mean, I'm sure other factors might have had an effect, but the most obvious answer is pretty simple and I think apparent.<shrugs>
^ Agree. Well said. It's obvious from all the anecdotes in this thread that everybody's experiences in the '70s were vastly different.
It's still fun to read about them and maybe take a little trip down memory lane.
I've always taken this thread to be more about nostalgia and not really a scientific discussion. 2 -
Such a great question. It seems like bone structures are even larger these days.0
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Here's and answer from science - we are eating more carbs than we used to.
Trends in carbohydrate, fat, and protein intakes and association with energy intake in normal-weight, overweight, and obese individuals: 1971–2006
"Results: The prevalence of obesity increased from 11.9% to 33.4% in men and from 16.6% to 36.5% in women. The percentage of energy from carbohydrates increased from 44.0% to 48.7%, the percentage of energy from fat decreased from 36.6% to 33.7%, and the percentage of energy from protein decreased from 16.5% to 15.7%. "
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/93/4/836/4597739
Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study
"High carbohydrate intake was associated with higher risk of total mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to lower total mortality. Total fat and types of fat were not associated with cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas saturated fat had an inverse association with stroke. Global dietary guidelines should be reconsidered in light of these findings."
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32252-3/abstract
You might also take both of these studies an indictment of the nutrition community and the current dietary guidlines.
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Here's and answer from science - we are eating more carbs than we used to.
We are eating more overall than we used to. If most of the additional calories come from carbs, that doesn't point to carbs as being particularly evil. We'd see the same results if they came from fats or protein instead.3 -
Here's and answer from science - we are eating more carbs than we used to.
Trends in carbohydrate, fat, and protein intakes and association with energy intake in normal-weight, overweight, and obese individuals: 1971–2006
"Results: The prevalence of obesity increased from 11.9% to 33.4% in men and from 16.6% to 36.5% in women. The percentage of energy from carbohydrates increased from 44.0% to 48.7%, the percentage of energy from fat decreased from 36.6% to 33.7%, and the percentage of energy from protein decreased from 16.5% to 15.7%. "
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/93/4/836/4597739
Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study
"High carbohydrate intake was associated with higher risk of total mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to lower total mortality. Total fat and types of fat were not associated with cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas saturated fat had an inverse association with stroke. Global dietary guidelines should be reconsidered in light of these findings."
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32252-3/abstract
You might also take both of these studies an indictment of the nutrition community and the current dietary guidlines.
The "miracles" of keto again, huh?
How do you explain this, then?:
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One possible answer for sugar consumption going down and obesity going up is that artificial sweeteners still spike insulin.
Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772345/?version=meter+at+null&module=meter-Links&pgtype=article&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click
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AnvilHead - here is a companion to your graph.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/heal-the-mind-heal-the-body/201711/new-diet-ideas-the-artificial-sweeteners-controversy4 -
AnvilHead - here is a companion to your graph.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/heal-the-mind-heal-the-body/201711/new-diet-ideas-the-artificial-sweeteners-controversy
Is it possible the obese people are using artificial sweeteners in an effort to cut calories, driving up use of artificial sweeteners, but not making enough changes in the rest of their diet and lifestyle to actually lose appreciable weight?
Is it possible that people who cut calories with artificial sweeteners feel like they have been "good" so end up treating themselves and eating back those calories anyway?
Do you honestly think a trend that is happening all over the world, across country, gender, education, and class lines, all comes down to "carbs"?
Are you familiar with the Blue Zones?8
This discussion has been closed.
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