why were people so skinny in the 70s?
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lemurcat12 wrote: »And while I too would want that super complicated 1000-calorie tasty salad if paying for it, from what I understand from my own family at least, that wouldn't have happened back then to begin with - eating out was an extremely rare occasion for them (and salads probably weren't a feature course back then in the US at least). But no doubt this varied a lot by region, socioeconomic circles, and exactly when w/in the late 60's to early 80's you think of.
Just moving to "memories of the '70s" (or in this case '80s), when I was little (so '70s) we (meaning the kids in my specific family and social group) rarely went out to eat and it was fast food as a treat or occasionally a buffet with my grandparents or something like Sambo's (as I mentioned above) or we were on vacation/a road trip. My parents went out more often, and we'd get a babysitter and TV dinners (which seemed like a special treat).
Later on we'd get pizza occasionally or go out occasionally (choices were more limited than what I have now, but this was a middle-sized city and I live in a large city with a significant restaurant culture now, so I wouldn't use that to compare the '80s to now). One of our favorite places to go out (we'd bring my grandmother) was this seafood place where one of the features was the unlimited salad bar you could get as a starter, so I do remember salads -- and high cal, potentially, salads -- being a thing by the '80s, at least.
When waiting for our table we'd get to play the video games in the waiting area, especially Ms Pac Man and Donkey Kong.
One of my fondest childhood memories is going to the Pizza Hut with the sit down tabletop Ms PacMan and achieving the high score on the game, which lasted only until I was back the following week with my family. Good times.11 -
WinoGelato wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »And while I too would want that super complicated 1000-calorie tasty salad if paying for it, from what I understand from my own family at least, that wouldn't have happened back then to begin with - eating out was an extremely rare occasion for them (and salads probably weren't a feature course back then in the US at least). But no doubt this varied a lot by region, socioeconomic circles, and exactly when w/in the late 60's to early 80's you think of.
Just moving to "memories of the '70s" (or in this case '80s), when I was little (so '70s) we (meaning the kids in my specific family and social group) rarely went out to eat and it was fast food as a treat or occasionally a buffet with my grandparents or something like Sambo's (as I mentioned above) or we were on vacation/a road trip. My parents went out more often, and we'd get a babysitter and TV dinners (which seemed like a special treat).
Later on we'd get pizza occasionally or go out occasionally (choices were more limited than what I have now, but this was a middle-sized city and I live in a large city with a significant restaurant culture now, so I wouldn't use that to compare the '80s to now). One of our favorite places to go out (we'd bring my grandmother) was this seafood place where one of the features was the unlimited salad bar you could get as a starter, so I do remember salads -- and high cal, potentially, salads -- being a thing by the '80s, at least.
When waiting for our table we'd get to play the video games in the waiting area, especially Ms Pac Man and Donkey Kong.
One of my fondest childhood memories is going to the Pizza Hut with the sit down tabletop Ms PacMan and achieving the high score on the game, which lasted only until I was back the following week with my family. Good times.
We went to our local pizza place this Friday and they had a Pac-Man in their waiting room. I put my teen to work. Yay, good times still.6 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »misskitty2018 wrote: »they rode bikes,skateboards, danced and walked to the park to play. they ate basic meals without them adding 100 ingredients AND we were broke/poor so couldn't spend much money on groceries. Now days...it seems as though we have to have a recipe a mile long and with bread on the side. dessert every night. the list is endless.
Yup!! I often talk about this change too, whenever I can get someone to listen.
Why does food always have to be a "recipe" now??
What an odd odd string of conversation this is. I have three of my grandmothers cookbooks. She had all sorts of recipes handwritten as well as the actual cookbooks... She wrote them on the pages at the front and back of the book plus stuck them on tablet paper in between the other pages. Recipes for things like soups, goulash, bread, pies, cakes, meatloaf, meatballs... Not sure where this idea that recipes are some kind of new fangled thing came from. These cookbooks were from the 20s and 30s.
I get what you mean, but I had a lot of "plain" food at home, compared to what I see when we go out socially now. Why do good old healthy vegetables need to have oil, cheese, fruit, nuts, bacon, etc. added to them to make a modern SALAD!!?
Um, you get that people always cooked differently for social gatherings than just at home?
We eat plenty of plain stuff at home now (it's how I normally cook), but I'll fancy it up for dinner parties and so on, or even when bringing a dish to a potluck. As my mother and grandmother also did.
Cooking in the 70's often consisted of some pretty high calorie foods. There were no lower calorie options and the family recipes often use a lot of cream, butter, and sugar in cooking and baking. People just ate fewer snacks and were more active than now. There was never anything on TV lol.
Just for an example, my sister-in-law gave me a copy of "The Joy of Cooking" at my wedding shower in '71. All the recipes are made with all the traditional cream, butter, fat, sugar etc. The updated version I gave my daughters at their showers were considerably different, incorporating healthier, lower-calorie versions of those same recipes.
I can imagine the difference. I remember a typical meal at my house in the 70's consisted of things like roast beef with plenty of visible fat, mash potatoes with generous a buttering, buttered rolls, salad with oil and vinegar or salad dressing (Miracle Whip usually), and a cooked vegetable like turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach or cooked carrots always with butter. Often we had a baked dessert or pudding as well. Those are some pretty high calorie meals but we didn't get a lot of treats during the day.
Yes. My mom cooked a lot of what are now referred to as "comfort foods". And my dad's breakfasts on the weekends were legendary. Bacon and eggs (eggs fried in the bacon grease) and biscuits with sausage gravy (and sometimes pancakes on the side, made in the shape of turtles or snowmen or whatever - with plenty of butter and syrup, of course). He'd cook the sausage in the pan, then cut the sausage into pieces and make the gravy right in the pan without draining the grease. You could actually see all the grease swirls in the gravy. Still the best sausage gravy I've ever had anywhere.7 -
cocaine2
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Carlos_421 wrote: »misskitty2018 wrote: »they rode bikes,skateboards, danced and walked to the park to play. they ate basic meals without them adding 100 ingredients AND we were broke/poor so couldn't spend much money on groceries. Now days...it seems as though we have to have a recipe a mile long and with bread on the side. dessert every night. the list is endless.
Yup!! I often talk about this change too, whenever I can get someone to listen.
Why does food always have to be a "recipe" now??
What an odd odd string of conversation this is. I have three of my grandmothers cookbooks. She had all sorts of recipes handwritten as well as the actual cookbooks... She wrote them on the pages at the front and back of the book plus stuck them on tablet paper in between the other pages. Recipes for things like soups, goulash, bread, pies, cakes, meatloaf, meatballs... Not sure where this idea that recipes are some kind of new fangled thing came from. These cookbooks were from the 20s and 30s.
I get what you mean, but I had a lot of "plain" food at home, compared to what I see when we go out socially now. Why do good old healthy vegetables need to have oil, cheese, fruit, nuts, bacon, etc. added to them to make a modern SALAD!!?
Because it tastes better?? People don't tend to go out to eat with expectations of plain, boring food. If we're going to pay good money for a meal, we want it to be delicious.
I agree. But my point was we didn't go out to pay for meals1 -
I think portion size is the biggest factor. The size of restaurant meals has grown dramatically, and many people have come to see these huge portions as normal, and thus serve similarly sized meals at home.
I was a child of the 70s, and my family did eat in "real" restaurants...probably once a week, and had fast food just as often. But a burger and fries from the mid 70s would be comparable in size to today's kids' meal. On the other hand, "home cooked" meals didn't necessarily mean fresh clean ingredients. there were plenty of processed foods back in the day. Casseroles made with condensed soups and Velveeta..."salads" made with mayonnaise and marshmallows...look in any 70s era cookbook...especially the kinds compiled from real housewives' recipes...like a Junior League or church group collection...for examples of what people really ate.
And sure we would ride bikes and run around outside playing tag an hide-and-seek, but we were just as likely to come home from school and eat Devil Dogs while watching reruns of Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island.
I would say my kids today are just as active as we were growing up. They may spend less time running wild and free, but organized sports and activities are far more prevalent than when I was a kid.4 -
food has changed so much since then and we eat more5
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janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
My parents were definitely 'different'. No TV and we were forced to stay outside until dark. LOL. But I'm guessing my upbringing in the 80s is probably similar to what it would have been like in the 70s.
Kids had sedentary activities (coloring, reading, toys like dollhouses and Lincoln Logs) in the 1970s though. Some kids have always played outside more, but I don't know if we can assume that was a universal 1970s experience.
True enough but I think it's just obvious that those who WERE skinny were moving more than they were eating. Isn't that the science? And if we're going to presume that people in the 70s were skinnier, then the obvious reason is that more people were moving more than eating, IE: more calories out than in.
I can only take my experience (and those of kids I know) and say: huh, well, it's probably because we moved a lot more than other kids.
Yes, those who were in a healthy weight range were eating the appropriate amount of energy for their activity.
My post is about the (to me false) claim that there was a previous era where children were playing outside all the time and never had sedentary or indoor activities.
The truth is that children in the 1970s and 1980s had access to a wide range of activities, some sedentary, some active, some indoor, some outdoor. Individual children in those eras (or today) may have had the experience of being forced to stay outside until dark, but others didn't.5 -
And sure we would ride bikes and run around outside playing tag an hide-and-seek, but we were just as likely to come home from school and eat Devil Dogs while watching reruns of Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island.
I would say my kids today are just as active as we were growing up. They may spend less time running wild and free, but organized sports and activities are far more prevalent than when I was a kid.
OMG yes...my friends kids are involved in all sorts of things that were not available in my small town when I was a kid -- heck my town library was only open a few hours a week when I was a kid. Kids are running, running, running...while we did have biddy basketball, little league, and the Y a few towns over offered gymnastics, there was not indoor soccer, swim team, karate...there were no gyms in the area (now there are at least 4 that I can think of). The town park now has a skate park, and a tremendously beautiful new playground that is way cooler than it was in the 70s...more basketball courts, a nature trail around the river...
And yeah, I was pretty sedentary. My parents were not interested in signing me up for activities they'd have to schlepp me around to - looking back it's probably because we couldn't afford it. And there are a lot of people who still can't afford it today....
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And sure we would ride bikes and run around outside playing tag an hide-and-seek, but we were just as likely to come home from school and eat Devil Dogs while watching reruns of Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island.
I would say my kids today are just as active as we were growing up. They may spend less time running wild and free, but organized sports and activities are far more prevalent than when I was a kid.
OMG yes...my friends kids are involved in all sorts of things that were not available in my small town when I was a kid -- heck my town library was only open a few hours a week when I was a kid. Kids are running, running, running...while we did have biddy basketball, little league, and the Y a few towns over offered gymnastics, there was not indoor soccer, swim team, karate...there were no gyms in the area (now there are at least 4 that I can think of). The town park now has a skate park, and a tremendously beautiful new playground that is way cooler than it was in the 70s...more basketball courts, a nature trail around the river...
And yeah, I was pretty sedentary. My parents were not interested in signing me up for activities they'd have to schlepp me around to - looking back it's probably because we couldn't afford it. And there are a lot of people who still can't afford it today....
And sure we would ride bikes and run around outside playing tag an hide-and-seek, but we were just as likely to come home from school and eat Devil Dogs while watching reruns of Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island.
I would say my kids today are just as active as we were growing up. They may spend less time running wild and free, but organized sports and activities are far more prevalent than when I was a kid.
OMG yes...my friends kids are involved in all sorts of things that were not available in my small town when I was a kid -- heck my town library was only open a few hours a week when I was a kid. Kids are running, running, running...while we did have biddy basketball, little league, and the Y a few towns over offered gymnastics, there was not indoor soccer, swim team, karate...there were no gyms in the area (now there are at least 4 that I can think of). The town park now has a skate park, and a tremendously beautiful new playground that is way cooler than it was in the 70s...more basketball courts, a nature trail around the river...
And yeah, I was pretty sedentary. My parents were not interested in signing me up for activities they'd have to schlepp me around to - looking back it's probably because we couldn't afford it. And there are a lot of people who still can't afford it today....
Yeah, there were three girls in my family and only my dad worked. We could do some activities but not many. I tended to stay home when my sister's were playing soccer but I did play softball and swim. I wish I had done more sports as a kid but we couldn't always afford it so it was easy to be more sedentary.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
My parents were definitely 'different'. No TV and we were forced to stay outside until dark. LOL. But I'm guessing my upbringing in the 80s is probably similar to what it would have been like in the 70s.
Kids had sedentary activities (coloring, reading, toys like dollhouses and Lincoln Logs) in the 1970s though. Some kids have always played outside more, but I don't know if we can assume that was a universal 1970s experience.
True enough but I think it's just obvious that those who WERE skinny were moving more than they were eating. Isn't that the science? And if we're going to presume that people in the 70s were skinnier, then the obvious reason is that more people were moving more than eating, IE: more calories out than in.
I can only take my experience (and those of kids I know) and say: huh, well, it's probably because we moved a lot more than other kids.
Yes, those who were in a healthy weight range were eating the appropriate amount of energy for their activity.
My post is about the (to me false) claim that there was a previous era where children were playing outside all the time and never had sedentary or indoor activities.
The truth is that children in the 1970s and 1980s had access to a wide range of activities, some sedentary, some active, some indoor, some outdoor. Individual children in those eras (or today) may have had the experience of being forced to stay outside until dark, but others didn't.
Ah. I dunno. Is it a cultural thing maybe? All I know is when I was a kid we spent a *kitten* ton of time moving. There were sedentary activities but we weren't interested in them. We preferred moving.
And I look around now and it seems like kids spend all their times on electronics. Heck, even I spend more time doing sedentary things when I used to LOVE moving.
BUT that's just my perception and what I'm seeing from my angles of the world. 2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
My parents were definitely 'different'. No TV and we were forced to stay outside until dark. LOL. But I'm guessing my upbringing in the 80s is probably similar to what it would have been like in the 70s.
Kids had sedentary activities (coloring, reading, toys like dollhouses and Lincoln Logs) in the 1970s though. Some kids have always played outside more, but I don't know if we can assume that was a universal 1970s experience.
True enough but I think it's just obvious that those who WERE skinny were moving more than they were eating. Isn't that the science? And if we're going to presume that people in the 70s were skinnier, then the obvious reason is that more people were moving more than eating, IE: more calories out than in.
I can only take my experience (and those of kids I know) and say: huh, well, it's probably because we moved a lot more than other kids.
Yes, those who were in a healthy weight range were eating the appropriate amount of energy for their activity.
My post is about the (to me false) claim that there was a previous era where children were playing outside all the time and never had sedentary or indoor activities.
The truth is that children in the 1970s and 1980s had access to a wide range of activities, some sedentary, some active, some indoor, some outdoor. Individual children in those eras (or today) may have had the experience of being forced to stay outside until dark, but others didn't.
Ah. I dunno. Is it a cultural thing maybe? All I know is when I was a kid we spent a *kitten* ton of time moving. There were sedentary activities but we weren't interested in them. We preferred moving.
And I look around now and it seems like kids spend all their times on electronics. Heck, even I spend more time doing sedentary things when I used to LOVE moving.
BUT that's just my perception and what I'm seeing from my angles of the world.
I'm not doubting your account of your own childhood. I'm simply questioning how much our personal childhood experience and our observations today can be a primary guide to making conclusions about widespread cultural trends.
This isn't directed at just you. All throughout this thread, I see people using their own childhood as a sort of "standard" for what they assume all childhoods were like in the era in which they grew up.
You look around and see children on electronics. I look around and see the children of my peers and my nieces and nephews being quite active. I don't know if either one of us has enough information to draw conclusions here.6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »
My parents were definitely 'different'. No TV and we were forced to stay outside until dark. LOL. But I'm guessing my upbringing in the 80s is probably similar to what it would have been like in the 70s.
Kids had sedentary activities (coloring, reading, toys like dollhouses and Lincoln Logs) in the 1970s though. Some kids have always played outside more, but I don't know if we can assume that was a universal 1970s experience.
True enough but I think it's just obvious that those who WERE skinny were moving more than they were eating. Isn't that the science? And if we're going to presume that people in the 70s were skinnier, then the obvious reason is that more people were moving more than eating, IE: more calories out than in.
I can only take my experience (and those of kids I know) and say: huh, well, it's probably because we moved a lot more than other kids.
Yes, those who were in a healthy weight range were eating the appropriate amount of energy for their activity.
My post is about the (to me false) claim that there was a previous era where children were playing outside all the time and never had sedentary or indoor activities.
The truth is that children in the 1970s and 1980s had access to a wide range of activities, some sedentary, some active, some indoor, some outdoor. Individual children in those eras (or today) may have had the experience of being forced to stay outside until dark, but others didn't.
Ah. I dunno. Is it a cultural thing maybe? All I know is when I was a kid we spent a *kitten* ton of time moving. There were sedentary activities but we weren't interested in them. We preferred moving.
And I look around now and it seems like kids spend all their times on electronics. Heck, even I spend more time doing sedentary things when I used to LOVE moving.
BUT that's just my perception and what I'm seeing from my angles of the world.
IDK...I have an 8 and almost 6 year old. Sure, they play on ipads and play video games and watch Netflix...they also play team sports and until recently my oldest did Jiu Jitsu. They certainly spend as much if not more time running around like jack *kitten* as they do sedentary activities. I pick them up from school and they're usually on the playground with all the other kids...playing. We go to the park and it's usually pretty packed with kids...playing. I played a lot to when I was a kid...I also played board games, sat on my butt in my bedroom and played with matchbox cars, did puzzles, watched scooby doo after school and Saturday morning cartoons.
I'd say if you did nothing but play outside when you were young, you are an outlier.
I think for the most part kids are playing outside and running around about as much as they were when I was a kid...there sedentary activities are just different than mine were.
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I just want to say the replacing of swear words with kitten is amusing the heck out of me.
Good input guys. Thanks.
My response to some of the points made is this: Isn't it true that childhood obesity is on the rise? Wouldn't that suggest children are, indeed, not as active as they've been in previous generations?3 -
We have a lot of kids now that NEVER play outside. And NEVER walk anywhere. Even in the 80's and later (at least in my area), kids nearly universally still often walked to the friends' houses to play those sedentary board and video games together and they had to walk to school (or at least to a bus stop). Now you can play video games with those friends over internet, and more parents are willing to ferry their children around by car. Correct me if I'm wrong (maybe this was different in other regions), but parents in the olden days were not willing to play chauffeur to their kids except in rare instances.
We also didn't snack between meals, and often were quite hungry well before a fixed meal came around. I think this has gotten a lot rarer in all age groups currently.5 -
We have a lot of kids now that NEVER play outside. And NEVER walk anywhere. Even in the 80's and later (at least in my area), kids nearly universally still often walked to the friends' houses to play those sedentary board and video games together and they had to walk to school (or at least to a bus stop). Now you can play video games with those friends over internet, and more parents are willing to ferry their children around by car. Correct me if I'm wrong (maybe this was different in other regions), but parents in the olden days were not willing to play chauffeur to their kids except in rare instances.
We also didn't snack between meals, and often were quite hungry well before a fixed meal came around. I think this has gotten a lot rarer in all age groups currently.
This always depended on where we lived. I moved a lot as a kid...some places were conducive to walking to a friend's house or riding my bike over...also depended on schooling. When I was in Nebraska for example, I initially attended a private school that was one town over...most of my friend's were from school so most of my friends lived one town over or lived in my town, but not near by. We also lived in a rural area just outside of town and my neighborhood didn't really have any kids there...so if I wanted to see my friends to play, the parents would usually have to arrange something.
When I changed schools to one that was in my town and we moved into town, there were two of my friends that were walking distance from home so I'd walk to their houses or we'd meet at the park.
Albuquerque is another example of urban sprawl and I had friends scattered all over the city since I attended private school and not a single one was in walking or riding distance. When I transferred to public school it wasn't much different because the school districts are quite large and spread out...in high school I can only think of 2 people who were in walking or bike riding distance.
My family lives in Corrales now which is a rural suburb of Albuquerque...it's a decent sized village and is pretty spread out. School would be about a 5 mile walk from our house...the bus stop is a little less than 1/4 mile away, but my wife and I have to be to work before the bus picks up so we just take them...at 8 and almost 6 I don't really trust to just drop them at the bus stop at 7:30 AM when they're not going to get picked up until around 8:10. No kids in our neighborhood...my kids' best friends are brothers and they are transfer students from another district...it's a good 15-20 minute drive to their house. Corrales in general isn't very conducive to lots of walking either as there are no sidewalks and you have to walk in the road...not really a big deal on neighborhood streets, but the two main roads through the village are pretty busy with traffic. Even if my kids could be trusted to do a 5 mile walk on their own and get to school on time, they'd have at least a mile of dodging traffic on Corrales road to get there.
I think there probably are more sedentary kids these days, but people make it out like every kid is doing nothing. Like I said, when I pick up my kids from school, there are tons of kids on the playground having a grand old time...we go to one of the two parks near us and they're usually packed out. There are tons of kids involved in youth sports...far more than when I was a kid and played youth sports. I just took my kids to the trampoline park on Sunday and it was at maximum capacity.
And yes, obesity in children is on the rise...but the bulk of the obesity epidemic and rise in obesity is adults...not kids playing with ipads
Frankly, most kids I see at the school and elsewhere are perfectly healthy little boys and girls...IDK...maybe that changes or something once they become teenagers or get out of elementary school...but it seems like these kids are friggin' hard to keep up with and I'm in pretty good shape.3 -
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Most of the reasons have been mentioned here, in my opinion. Fast food to me is #1. The amount of calories is enormous and the quality of the food is the lowest; bad nutrition. My second reason would be the gradual reduction in activity level caused by changes in the daily life, e.g. less walking, leaf blowers instead of raking leaves, elevators instead of stairs, etc. We can do better!1
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To the person who claims people in the 70's were not scared their child could be abducted. The very first time I took my daughter out in the pram to the local shopping centre, I refused to go into any shops I could not take the pram into. In another part of the UK a child was taken from its pram out side some shop and was never found. This was 1969, mid to late October! I got home to hear of the abduction on the radio news bulletin.
That fear has never left me to the extent I did not leave 4 granddaughters I'd taken to holiday cottage though one was 16 yrs old! That was the day a much younger child was abducted from a holiday destination in Spain. She definitely has not been found.
I don't know about anyone else but a young life, any life has never been something I have taken chances with.
I think stuff like that happened a lot back in the day as far as abductions, murders, rapes, etc. but they didn't have CNN, Internet, & other means of wide spreading horrible cases.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Crime_to_Remember#Season_1_(2013)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Etan_Patz2
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