To wonder why we were a thinner nation before we all knew so much about food.

[Bumblebumble123]

Isn't it funny that in years gone by, people didn't have the knowledge about food they have now. Peoples diets weren't dictated by calories or grams of fat or carbs, they were dictated by hunger. Yet now we have an obesity epidemic.

Is educating people on food counter productive? Would we all be better to scrap the info and start listening to our bodies?

I don't know the answer. I just find it odd that we know more than ever about food yet the nations waistline is getting bigger.

according to t'internet. Diana Dors was about a size 12 (us 8) and about 9 stone 12lbs (about 5'6 tall), Not really chubby though I think she spread in middle age which isn't uncommon.

Try puting my post in contxt - it really does help

Also societys idea of beauty changes - currently the more androgenous female - a la Victoria Beckham size zero is the industry ideal. Where as in the 1950's you had a rather chubby Diana Dors.

Size 0 or size 12 - one of them is going to look like buxom (Im thinking Adam Ants Prince Charming Video) and it isnt VB!

Adam Ant was having hits in the early 80s not the 1950s.

You mentioned 1950s Diana Dors not 1981 Diana Dors.............not long before it turned out she had ovarian cancer.

I see the context. But you can't really call her chubby, and it also says she was a C cup. yes in contrast she had a fuller figure but I think chubby is a bit of stretch. I guess the point is that she was a very average figure and would be deemed relatively slim for a normal person nowadays but wouldn't necessarily be seen as having an aspirational figure by the fashionable.

Although having a large arse seems to be popular now as long as it's accompanied by a small waist and large chest.

oh and it's 0 to 8 not 12, 12 was UK sizing.

Jayee61 thanks so much for posting that link. I got this far...

'If people of normal weight have shorter lifespans than those who are overweight, why do we call them normal? Surely we should call them "mildly underweight", at which point we would have to call people who are now considered overweight "normal".'

...and all I can say is WooooHooooo! - That extra 6lbs can just sit right there.

To add to anecdotal evidence, I walked down my local high St, in a small town, today at 2:45 pm.
KFC, McDonalds, 2 x Greggs, a cheap pizza place, Subway & a chipshop were absolutely full, with queues to get in, of secondary school children. Poundland, Poundstretcher and Lidl had long queues of kids buying chocolate bars, crisps and fizzy drinks.
I don't believe they all have part-time jobs, in fact I doubt if any have, so presumably they were spending money provided to them by the parents. All the schools round here have a pre-payment system for meals.
So, why are parents funding this expensive addiction to crap food - unless you are unable to read, everyone knows it's a poor diet? Why are they doing it?

Fortunately my DSs school is too far from anywhere for them to get there and back in their 40 minutes. Some brave ones leg it to Tesco and if you get there and get served straight away you can just about manage to run back up the steep hill stuffing your face as you go and get back in time. Mine have never been tempted and so take a pack lunch as school lunch queues are too long and boring...

Suits me fine and I know what they have every day.

So much temptation with aisles full sugary processed food that is always on offer shoved in your face every time you enter a supermarket. This stuff should be hidden at the back and taxed heavily to subside cheaper fresh produce.

Hidden calories consumed in drinks like wine, soft drinks, and coffees (previous generations did not regularly drink wine at home or have coffees in cafes)

Things that were once thought of as a treat people are now having everyday.

Busy lifestyle, long days and not enough time to cook from scratch.

Inability to cook from scratch

People just drive everywhere, do sedentary jobs and then spend evenings and weekends on the sofa glued to sceeens.

Members of the most watched/ followed family on earth ( the Kardashians) have figures similar to Diana Dors, with the exception of Kendall. Big boobs and big bum but toned tummy and narrow waist . Her figure is definitely seen as fashionable right now .

DS started high school this year. After always having a packed lunch in primary, he's now choosing food from a prepaid card. He gets £2.50 a day, buys a slice of toast mid morning, then the meal deal cooked lunch, bottle of water and small biscuit. We had a chat about buying healthyish food, not cakes and crap, and I can see from his online record that he follows my advice. It seems a lot of food to me but he does a lot of sport and is very skinny.

But some of his friends are buying £5 even £7 of stuff a day, purely cakes and junky stuff. Already they have significantly gained weight.

I was talking to a couple of the mums and they were complaining about how much their kids were spending. I said that DS had a £2.20 limit and was sticking to it and they seemed genuinely shocked (a) that I would expect my child to exercise some self control and (b) that he was actually able to do so. Gorging was fine by them.

This is not about our increasing knowledge of food and availability of produce. It is about our decreasing levels of activity. We need to eat less now than we did back then because, on average, we use less energy in our daily lives. We are more sedentary.

The answer if of course to move more and eat better. Processed foods and hidden sugars are also no help to us.

A quick Google shows that actually there is some research that shows that central heating may contribute to weight gain and obesity.

Tufted there was a post on here a few years back from someone who worked somewhere like the P.

The young women in there with eating disorders used to nobble the radiators and throw the windows in their rooms wide open in the middle of winter.

I noticed all those flavoured waters have taken off big time in the supermarkets. Loaded with sugar, but because it says Elderflower water people think it's fine it's just water. Um no it's sugar with a hint of some articial flavour that sort of resembles elderflower urgh.

As covered above extensively; we move less and as a nation, eat a lot more.

In the 70’s I was allowed a single rich tea biscuit after school never eaten them since mind.

A cake would be something like a Mr Kipling cherry bakewell. Still available and at the smaller end of the cake sizing scale.

But regarding education, I’m currently a stone overweight and trying to do something about that. For years, I had bought into 2000 calories a day for women message. In fact, as i’m short & menopausal, my Calorie requirement is closer to 1500.

So yes, misinformation is a factor too.

Walking less must be a contributor, and fast food outlets a significant one.

The calorie message is confusing. I don’t believe that most women can eat the recommended daily amount & be the size the media seems desirable.

The presenteeism culture has a lot to answer for, together with the easy availability of junk food. I couldn't believe it when I first arrived in this country and found that supermarkets had entire aisles devoted to what I had been trained to see as "very occasional party food".

Might be worth looking at what we do differently to other northern European countries which, though by no means perfect, are still managing far better than us despite very similar food/cultural habits.

Can't be the central heating, they've always done better than us on that. Can't be a Mediterranean diet either. The one thing that stands out is family-friendly work hours. People who insist (=have the confidence to insist) on getting away from work in time to cook family dinner, people who (have the confidence to) take the holidays they are entitled to, people who are not eating every other meal in front of the computer, people who dare take the time to walk to work.

Yes, there is also less crap food in the supermarkets and more, even in the smallest of corner shops, that you could use to make a nutritious meal, but that comes from demand and demand comes from time.

It is, of course, relevant to know that the children of the70’s ( in Britain) we’re the first to grow up with convenience food with the ridiculous amount of corn syrup in. This is the same time that the ‘corn giants’ of America funded a smear campaign against fat - leading to the still prevalent idea that fat is really bad for you - to deflect the attention away from the fact that their production and use of corn syrup in virtually every processed / pre-prepared product going was hideously bad for us.
Essentially, they se if us in 40’s and under who were prone to sugar addiction were subjected to a sugar filled diet (before we even mention sweeties) from an early age.

*Essentially, those of us

I think we used to run, go to the park, skip, dance the night away, rollerskate and eat homemade food. Now we, and our kids watch endless TV, are on some form of technology and eat endless processed food and takeaways. A regular coffee has about ten calories, a coffee shop beverage is probably nearer the 200 mark!

YY Mickle and 40 + years later we are seeing the result.

I remember the first drive thru McD’s being build in England. It was so exciting. We didn’t realise how bad junk food was and now as a nation we’re now hooked. I think therein lies your answer. The increase in high calorie, convenience junk food...

Years ago animals weren't pumped full of growth hormones either. I often wonder if we ingest some of these in meat.

In years gone by you didn't walk into a corner shop to a mile long rack of chocolate bars. It was penny sweets behind the counter & people got a little bag if anything