was everyone slim in the 1950s/60s

[ambereeree]

I've been watching old films and it seems that everyone was slim in the 50s and 40s. Even women with quite a few children. Is this reality or just in films?

Disclaimer: I’m 5’8” with big shoulders, so size 6 is skinny on me.

So if you have worked hard and put in a lot of effort to be in triathlon shape you can legitimately be proud but if you are just naturally skinny...effortlessly thin that's a different matter?

Yes, I wouldn’t be proud of being any particular dress size. Why would I be? Especially if I was naturally that size. What’s there to be proud of ? I mean, my dress size isn’t something I have particular pride in. Never have. I think it’s a bit strange to have pride in a dress size on its own, but each to their own I guess.

I certainly wouldn’t be ashamed either btw. It’s just a number, unless it’s dangerously or unhealthily high / low it’s nothing to be particularly concerned about to me.

I wouldn’t be proud of my dress size alone even if it was down to triathlons or losing weight having been obese btw. But it might be an indicator of my achievements in that case, which would be something to be proud of.

if you are naturally slim surely it surely means you are doing something right healthwise and other people might benefit from emulating you?

It just means you have an inefficient metabolism. The thinnest person I know gets no exercise and stuffs her face. I'm deeply envious!

Well, I’m naturally a healthy bmi and a size 12 at 5’8”. I’ve been a lot smaller. But no, I definitely don’t think it’s anything anyone should be especially proud of.

You have no idea why people are the size they are. It’s a bit odd to me if you take pride in your dress size. I mean, just your dress size? That’s not anything to be proud of. For one thing, shops make sizes all different, so I might be a 10 in one shop or a 16 in another. So it’s nonsense anyway. So when someone brags that they’re a size X, I do think it’s odd and a bit.... I dunno, sad maybe. Like really? This is what you want to brag about? I mean, people saying “yay I’m back in my size 8s” after weight loss, I kind of get, because they’re happy they’ve achieved something. Or someone saying “yay, I completed a triathlon in record time”.

I’m talking about dress size ALONE, because it isn’t an indicator on its own of being healthy. Take, for example the lady I know who is very ill, smokes upwards of forty cigs a day and looks a lot older than she is, but is a size 6 (actually more like a 4).

I also knew a terminally ill woman and I went to see her just before she died. She’d always been so weight conscious and she still had a sign up in her kitchen saying “little pickers wear big knickers”. I found it heartbreaking for some reason, though maybe it was just a little joke she enjoyed.

If you stay in shape by having a great diet and getting loads of exercise, good on you and I’d be proud of that. But being proud of your dress size on its own? No. Odd to me.

if you are naturally slim surely it surely means you are doing something right healthwise and other people might benefit from emulating you?

I think from a health pov being fit is more important than bmi. People can be skinny but have bad diets/ be heroin addicts/ heavy smokers etc etc.

It's shocking how many young people are seriously overweight.

I can understand an older person finding it difficult to stay slim, what with menopause and thyroid problems, but surely when you're young you should be fairly fit and a reasonable weight.
I drove past my local college earlier today and every other teenage girl appeared to be overweight.
In that age group it's mainly the girls.
Strangely enough, I didn't see many overweight male teenagers.

There are plenty of overweight men over the age of twenty, but the younger males seem to be rake thin.

So many overweight youngsters is a very worrying trend and a health epidemic in the making.

@ theycantalk

We took our son to a theme park on the east coast , my partner who has just turned 50 commented on the way home she felt positively svelte amongst all the other women, especially the younger generations.

Cheap booze and takeaways, a perfect recipe for a cardiac special.

Research has shown that its healthier for people over 65 to be slightly overweight. I haven't seen any research about younger people.

I'm not convinced by that.
Younger women lay down weight on their hips and thighs, which is healthier fat.
Older women lose weight from their legs and hips and lay down weight around their abdomens, which is why their waists thicken with age. Weight around the abdomen is very bad for you.

Being overweight could help with osteoporisis as extra weight can be beneficial for the bones. For your heart and the rest of you?
Not so much.

So I would say that unless you have a family history of osteoporosis it is best to try and maintain a slim (not thin) healthy weight through middle age and older.

I've definitely noticed " The Rage " increasing in those who simply don't like the fact that a slim healthy weight is better for you, for longevity/fertility and what the human frame was made to support. As well as just being more attractive generally - probably for those reasons mentioned.

The human skeleton or frame if you like, simply isn't designed to carry an excess amount of weight.
Our human hearts aren't designed to cope with the extra workload of pumping blood round such a large body.
Our knee joints aren't designed to carry such heavy work loads.

Why can people not see that?
Why the denial?

if you are naturally slim surely it surely means you are doing something right healthwise and other people might benefit from emulating you?

Not necessarily. I’ve known naturally slim people who smoke, drink too much and eat a crap diet.

ttheycantalk I think there is a lot between 'slim' and 'a large body'. Quite clearly having a BMI of 40 is bad for you. But if you are a naturally stocky, muscular build and fit you may be healthier despite a bmi of 27 than someone thinner who lives on fags, drives their car everywhere and doesn't eat properly. Weight doesn't equal health, there is a relationship between weight and health sure but it isn't an exact indicator.

Back to the o/p.

Read judy garland’s story. Movie studios had her on various drugs to control her weight. Film stars were and are thin because they don’t get the roles if their body shape isn’t acceptable.

Female film stars, predominantly.

Quite reallyanotherone. Film stars aren’t and never have been typical or average for their time.