To think that people were thinner

[Elfina]

In the past in the UK, up until about the 80s because food was less 'interesting'; less variety, seasoning etc so because it didn't taste that amazing you'd just eat your full and no more?

[kaumana]

Talkinpeace But that's not the vanity sizing I'm talking about.That's men wearing their old size which clearly does not fit them anymore. I'm meaning the shops increasing the waist sizes ie from a 24 inch size 10 in 1985 to a 29 currently.

[WitchWay]

Sizes have definitely changed. I have a skin-tight pair of size 10 Wrangler drainpipe jeans which still fit me perfectly, bought in 1988. I have tried & failed for the last few years to buy sensibly-priced jeans to fit my waist AND hips & now wear bloody expensive but worth it Not Your Daughter's Jeans skinny jeans in size 6

People have become generally fatter round the middle, with much less definition for women between hips & waist.

[NearTheWindmill]

Agrees with Composthat. DH's grandma was born about 1909 and was always very proud of the fact that her dc were well covered.

My gran wasn't even poor as a child but always said that part of life being good was having cake and a bag of sweets when you wanted them.

Bit older than yours, but both ladies from different backgrounds thought that having a full tummy was a good thing.

Interestingly I don't think women drank as much in those days.

[Pumpkin567]

We've been swimming today and we also discussed this. People are so fat now. Children are much bigger than when I went to school and there was only one fat girl. (70's)

Just too much food and not enough excercise.

[harticus]

Not eating in the street was a very big deal when I was young.
Now people can't seem to move from A to B without shoving something down their throats.

I used to travel for hours at a time on trains and it never once occurred to me that I might die of malnutrition or thirst on the way.
Now I can't get on a train for a tiny journey without a large cappuccino and something to "nibble".
Pathetic really.

Plus people smoked more back then and you can't eat if you smoke.
I supplemented fags for food for years and stayed thin.
All models smoke like chimneys.

[TalkinPeace]

kaumana
Take a tape measure into a department store and measure the waistbands.
They will throw you out pretty quickly, but you'll be able to test a few

DH's 36" waist jeans from a Main Stream store were in fact 39"
Just Like the mis sizing at another shop ...

their excuse was that the low waist is more on the hips ....
but men really think they have a 36" waist and they do not

same as women think they are "still a size 10"
FFS Marilyn Monroe had a 22 inch waist ....
I'm a size 8 and my waist is 28 inches

[ComposHat]

Yes near the very first question my gran asked me when I lost weight was 'are you okay for money?'

I think you're right it may be a generational thing rather than just a class thing.

[kaumana]

Talkinpeace I wasn't aware that was happening re mens sizing

I agree with you re people thinking they are the same size and bringing up Marilyn as plus size. She was tiny!

[GuybrushThreepwoodMP]

I think the diet industry probably has something to do with it. I'm convinced I'd be slimmer if I hadn't spend my entire adult life during and obsessing about food...
Definitely ready meals and fast food and overly processed stuff too though, combined with more sedentary lifestyles.

[capsium]

People also used to wear corsets. My mum can remember the corset talk at school. Apparently they kept your stomach muscles toned .

I do remember looking at some Victorian photographs of women without their corsets. Their wastes had deformed and were unnaturally thin, even when they were quite fleshy elsewhere.

[AskBasil]

Good point about smoking and drinking.

Women drank much less. You had to either go to a pub or an off-licence, booze wasn't sold in supermarkets the way it is now.

And at its high point, over 90% of adults in the UK smoked. That was just before the war and although it came down and continued to decline once the tobacco companies were unable to hide the health findings, that still meant a huge number of people smoked. Relative to income, smoking was cheaper as well, while food was dearer.

[NearTheWindmill]

I was certainly a stone lighter when I smoked.

[SinisterSal]

Smoking filled that 'comfort' hole that biscuits do now. Mindless ingestion really while watching tv, waiting for a bus, on the phone etc. A little traet when the kids were screeching or your boss was bugging you. Maybe smoking created the hand to mouth habit?

[TeacupDrama]

is a slim smoker actually healthier than someone slightly overweight but a non-smoker, I think not.

they maybe healthier than the morbidly obese

[ComposHat]

Yes and slim doesn't necessarily mean healthy. My granddad was thin as a child, but that was because he was malnourished not because he had a healthy balanced diet.

[frugalfuzzpig]

Really interesting thread. I don't think there could be any one reason.

Re: the calories ingested actually being less than in the seventies, is it that they were different 'types' of calories? So they got more from animal fats and we get more from sugar?

Although I wonder how they measured it accurately - given that it's known that people vastly underestimate what they eat when doing a food diary.

How long have gyms been easily available? There are heaps in my town. I guess they only became necessary when people stopped moving as much in everyday life. I definitely think children move less than in the past. Loads of DD's friends are driven everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

Availability of food, yes. There are FOUR macdonalds in my town - and a proposal for a fifth, a 24hr one in a supermarket.

[TalkinPeace]

Just been at the supermarket ....

"Low Fat fruit yoghurt"
Yup, fat = 2%
but sugar = 14%

FFS that means two pots of it contains a heaped spoonful of sugar.
And people eat "low fat yoghurt" as part of a "calorie controlled diet"

"Zero fat yoghurt"
10% sugar and all sorts of surreal stabilisers of dubious origin

[KellyElly]

I was born in 78, but brought up by great grandparents. My diet was much worse then. My gran used to do chips (homemade in a fryer) with everything and cook loads of apple pies. We never had the variation of veg people do now - pretty much just cabbage (which I hated) with everything. Also things like fried cheese with bits of bacon in it and meat paste sandwiches on white bread. Proper heart attack food. Everything seemed to have a pastry crust on

[Sirzy]

Low fat products are the worst thing for trying to lose weight. Much better to eat less of the 'proper' thing. Weight watchers products are the work of the devil as they try to make out they are somehow healthier versions of desired foods but when you examine the label they are far from it.

I wish there was more regulation of the health food industry to stop

[frugalfuzzpig]

Indeed sirzy. I am trying to be much more aware of all the added stuff in supposedly healthy food.

Where I used to automatically choose the lighter version of things - because, I thought, why wouldn't you if it was available? - I now always go for the 'whole' version.

Things like half fat cheddar and stuff are rank anyway. I once chose some reduced fat grated Red Leicester to put on a pasta bake, and I remember watching it 'melt' in the oven - except it didn't, it went all weird and just plain wrong. That was a lightbulb moment.

Also in reference to what others mentioned above, I also recently made a decision to stop eating on the move. No more snacks on the bus home etc. I never enjoy it like that anyway.

[lainiekazan]

I love watching the old TOTPSs from the 1970s(shame they have to miss so many out cos of the DJs... but that's another thread...)

Anyway, one thing dh and I always comment on is how puny everyone was back then. Not just skinny - puny. Thin arms, concave chests (including the girls) - now everyone looks so much beefier.

Agree that in the past there was no snacking. No eating in public (this still disgusts me). In the fridge at home all the food was allocated for meals. I agree that people seem to have this great entitlement not to ever experience the slightest hunger pang.

Back in the 70s/80s there was no random eating out. You might have had a coffee/bun in a department store, or a tea rooms, or there were some old-fashioned greasy spoon type places, but there was no concept of wandering round with drinks, or just having a drink somewhere. I remember being astonished when I first saw Starbucks-type places when I lived in the US in early 90s. I recall wondering if people got thrown out after a certain time.

[limitedperiodonly]

I remember the '70s.

Let's all go back there where people would be astounded that you'd buy tea or cake and eat it somewhere other than your own kitchen; where the few restaurants were either a Wimpy or only for special occasions; where the only takeaways were a Chinese or a fish and chip shop where there was a counter and a tiny table with The Sun on it, where there weren't bars that welcomed women, just off licences or smoky masculine pubs where the kids sat outside with a lemonade and a packet of crisps.

And where licensed premises opened between 11am and 2pm and opened at 6pm and shut at 11pm or 10.30pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

Yes, people were thinner then. Not sure whether they were healthier but I can tell you it was a lot more boring.

Otherwise, let's just exercise some self control. Or just exercise.

But then no one on this thread has a problem with over-indulging, right?

It's other people, isn't it?

[oliviaoctopus]

I think rushing around eating keeps you super skinny not vice versa, as if you dont frequently stop then your burning calories so fast you will never get fat. I think its the other way around and people who are big are that way as they arent active.

[Elfina]

I wonder how much taller we are now?

[Pipbin]

Limited I am overweight because I eat crap. I fully acknowledge this fact.