why were people so skinny in the 70s?
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I think the biggest reason is technology here. Technology has got us all sitting on our bums... for long periods of time. Each year that comes by more technology is made to make our life easier (to be lazier)... back then they had to go out to do stuff or have fun. It was that or sit at home being bored! Technology... wonderful but terrible.0
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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?
There was sugar back in the 70's both white, and brown. Eggs were evil back then!0 -
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?
Copious amounts of cocaine & amphetamines............0 -
Drugs:flowerforyou:0
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Studies have shown American women in the 1950s (and probably 1970s as well) cooked and ate a lot more vegetables than the average American woman does now. Something to do with it!0
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More speed and coke.
Less frankenfood.
Less internet.
Less television.
Less technology to keep fat people alive.0 -
sexual revolution.
more motivation to make sure you look better naked.
plus hippies eat a lot of wheat germ.
and people were taller.
Also the music was great.
Im pretty sure this is why.
plus also star wars.
oh - ps - my friend just reminded me - duh - cocaine0 -
We walked a lot. As a kid, even living in East LA, it was not unusual to be 6 years old and wander around without fear of being preyed upon (parents are rightfully frightened of letting their children walk around unattended these days).
Portion sizes have increased over the last forty to fifty years.
In the 70's, I remember I had channel 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and it was either 28 or 56, I forget which. That was IT. Frequently there was nothing on but crap.
In the 70's video games had not become a craze. It wasn't really until the 90's that massive on line multi-player games started. The point being a MAJOR sedentary activity did not even exist.
Social media: when is the last time you said, "hey, let's get dressed and go out to do social media". No, you sit in your damned underwear and do social media. Or at least I do.
I might get chided for saying this, but in my opinion, the devaluation of "family" and how important it is to have a family have resulted in less interraction and people less inclined to interract with people in real life. This results in people not being as motivated to get up and do things with other people.
The ever-increasing prevalence of HFCS and junk food, more available than ever before. My nephew used to be able to buy Pepsi and Sprite at his school (that changed recently). That was unthinkable when I was in school in the 70's.1 -
My mum was a really terrible cook but everything was cooked from scratch. Meat, potatoes, veg every night. And if you didn't eat it, you went hungry - no catering for fussy eaters to get them to eat!
When young played outside after school with my friends. No car in the family so walked everywhere, at least to the bus stop if it was a longer journey.
As a teen I thought nothing of walking an hour to the nearest disco (and that was across fields) and then spend the whole evening dancing and then walked home again.
I am 5'9" and in 1977 when I joined the army I weighed 105lb and ate whatever I wanted. They nearly refused me for being too light!
Just a totally different lifestyle.
ETA: I remember only having 3 TV Channels (UK) and the big hoohaa when Channel 4 was launched!0 -
Soul Train .... Do you know how hard you'd have to practice to get those dance moves down?0
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People weren't so addicted to sugary processed products, they did move more than we do
, no cable to watch, no video games to occupy their time, even kids these days sit idle way too long and are inside a lot more than we were as kids. 0 -
Everything was far less automated.0
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Less technology, jobs were more physical in nature (less automation.)
People ate 500 calories less per day in the 70s than we do now.
That's all there is to it.0 -
Something I've not seen mentioned yet is that meat was far more expensive in the 1970s than it was today. The idea of having meat with every meal, particularly beef, was completely unheard of. Usually it was at a single meal of the day.
And as others have noted, all of the processed crap. To make matters worse, they're feeding our plants processed crap so even vegetables and fruits often don't have the same nutrient levels they once did.
Meat was really expensive, but the processing of vegetables had already started. Tomatoes in the grocery store were pink and flavorless. Organic farming was considered radical, back in the day. I read a lot of nutrition books in the 70's.There were nutritionists who complained about bread manufacturers who took germ and bran out of bread and added in a couple of vitamins. Unless you had a home garden (which we did), you were stuck eating some fruits and vegetables purchased in the store that had little or no flavor.
In my home town, we didn't have any pizza stores back then. One could get a pizza at a local restaurant and it had one ingredient per pie. I think that there is about 10-12 stores there now.0 -
Growing up lower middle class on the rural Canadian prairies in the 70's and 80's, we had no excuses to be overweight as kids. All meals were homecooked from our gardens and with cheaper organ meats such as beef heart. Dinners out were once a month on Sunday after church, or as a very, very rare treat.
We had 3 TV channels that didn't always come in well. We had bikes, sleds, cross-country skis, and skates for the pond out back. You wanted to see your friends, you got on your bike or your skis. My brother and the other boys in the area would disappear out into the bush until the sun started to go down (which was about 11 in the summer).
And then there was the yard work. Saturday was nearly a full day of mowing and hoeing all summer long.
We also didn't fear the weather. What do you do when it's -35 and the highway is iced over so there's no school bus? Why you bundle up and get out there to build snow forts! Walked half a mile every morning and evening to and from the school bus stop in that snow and cold, too. Now if it looks like there's so much as a raindrop, gotta drive the kids to school.0 -
No more mothers at home. No more home cooked meals. All fast food now that both parents work.0
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It's worth a mention that diet pills were far less regulated and far more common, too, as were crash diets, self-medicating with booze and prescriptions (yes, they can make you eat too, but a lot depends on user mindset), smoking like chimneys, etc. My mom also said bulimia was eeeeverywhere when she was in high school in the 60s and that when Twiggy came in with a super-thin body ideal it got worse.2
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No more mothers at home. No more home cooked meals. All fast food now that both parents work.
then there was way too much pressure on mom to keep everyone eating correctly. everyone should know how to eat healthy. if your wife doesnt cook you dinner, it doesnt mean you can eat ice cream and gummy bears instead
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It's worth a mention that diet pills were far less regulated and far more common, too, as were crash diets, self-medicating with booze and prescriptions (yes, they can make you eat too, but a lot depends on user mindset), smoking like chimneys, etc. My mom also said bulimia was eeeeverywhere when she was in high school in the 60s and that when Twiggy came in with a super-thin body ideal it got worse.
What about kids? I don't think diet pills & crash diets were a major factor for kids..
look around.... so many over weight kids today !!
look at pics from the 70's - kids were more average weight, or even on the thin side.
70's kids = More exercise calories burned. Less calories consumed.0 -
It's worth a mention that diet pills were far less regulated and far more common, too, as were crash diets, self-medicating with booze and prescriptions (yes, they can make you eat too, but a lot depends on user mindset), smoking like chimneys, etc. My mom also said bulimia was eeeeverywhere when she was in high school in the 60s and that when Twiggy came in with a super-thin body ideal it got worse.
What about kids? I don't think diet pills & crash diets were a major factor for kids..
look around.... so many over weight kids today !!
look at pics from the 70's - kids were more average weight, or even on the thin side.
70's kids = More exercise calories burned. Less calories consumed.
its not that the seventies were better - its that the 80s were everything that was wrong.0
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