to consider my grandma’s theory on why we’re all fatter?

[bagelbreath]

My grandma swears up and down that although food and movement are obviously big factors to the massive weight gain of the country, heating is also very important.

While she lived in a cold house, wore stockings and dresses year round, and spent a lot of time outside, we all sit toasty in our well heated and insulated houses. Her theory is that it took lots of energy to stay warm then vs now.

Is it crazy? I kind of think it makes sense

I've seen pictures of my grandma and her friends and neighbours and they don't look very thin to me. Mostly fairly well upholstered apple shaped women by the time they hit mid life.
They didn't spend their whole lives cold either. My grandad was a miner and so coal fires were free. The middle room where the range was was absolutely boiling.
While there wasn't processed food, there was always tins of cake, a slice of which would come in at around the calories of a small meal.
They walked more and housework was heavier, which helped.
The men, who I'd agree seem much smaller and thinner, had to do a lot more manually. Children weren't fat either.
Being cold burns more calories, but overall I'd think it was negligible amongst other factors.

I don't think so, but I'm absolutely not a scientist so just my take.

Processed food, sitting at desks all day and overindulgence are the main factors.

I don't think it's one factor, but many. So it may include living in colder homes, smoking which suppresses appetite, more of us have cars which means less walking/cycling, ready availability of junk food etc. I think the biggest factor is sugary food - because sugar sets up a craving for more sugar when you're on the down from it.

I think your Grandma's correct but that it is more complex than that. If you look at what food is available locally and naturally during winter, we are designed to have scarcity of food one season a year. Even Chickens barely lay in the winter, let alone the lack of fresh produce.

So in winter we should be calorie deprived as well as struggling to keep warm. Now we eat an abundance at Christmas (let alone all the other dark cold evenings), live in centrally heated homes, and have cars to drive so we can go almost door to door without barely venturing into the weather if we wish (having a dog obviously prevents this!).

• Moved more and ate less.

Difference between eating to live back then and now living to eat.

Portion sizes. My MIL's dinner plate which date from her 1966 wedding are the same size as my side plates.

Apparently it's sugar that is responsible for the worldwide obesity epidemic, and not because of the calories in it.

See videos by Dr Robert Lustig on Youtube.

My summary: all common sugars are roughly 50% fructose. The only organ in your body that knows what to do with fructose is your liver, which turns it into fat. Consequently, your insulin levels go up. Extra insulin suppresses the effect of the hormone leptin which controls your appetite.

So, if I've understood correctly, and am not unintentionally exaggerating, the consequence of eating one extra teaspoon of sugar today is that your appetite and therefore calorie intake will be higher for the rest of your life.

(The other half of sugar, typically glucose, is relatively benign, the only harm is the actual calories. Most of it doesn't reach the liver, because all you organs know how to use it for energy. Even when some does reach the liver, it is converted into glycogen, a starch energy store, rather than generating new fat, the way fructose does.)

I would guess it's the putting of sugar into processed foods that's the real underly cause of the obesity epidemic. People aren't suddenly getting fat now because sugar has suddenly become more attractive or affordable. They're getting fat because their diet is changing towards processed foods, which contain sugar.

Yes, but the reason for this is the overabundance of cheap food since the war. So yes, our grandparents and parents gave us too much food, but that was because they could.

Well I eat more in the winter, and more still on v cold days. And there’s nothing like winter swimming to put a hunger on you. So in the absence of easy high calorie snacks I am sure colder equals thinner.

These posts seem to be trying to persuade us all that it is good we can not afford to put the heating on.

I read my grandma's diary from 100 years ago as no TV etc at home would spend evenings out at library, cinema etc which due to not having a car meant walking so they naturally where more active. Food also wasn't as easy/convenient as it is today and often was either home grown or carried home from the shops so again more exercise.

No because they were also eating foods we demonise now.proper butter.sugary cakes.lard and fats.full fat dairy and as much meat as they could.bread.carbs!they didn’t prescribe to shorty diet culture so much.they are more intuitively because of this.societal pressure for the thin ideal wasn’t so rampant.and the lie that thin always equal health wasn’t so pushed. Generally more active just because of how life was jot just forced exercise.
can’t wait to see where this thread goes.
weight,fat,food discussion on man here we go…

My gran was slim. She worked as a factory cleaner and then came home and cleaned the house, washed the families clothes by hand and took care of her children, all without any practical help from anyone.

Because life will be all right when we lose weight and are thin after all.😣

Any idea what your ancestors did as jobs? one if DH ancestors was a laundress about 150 years ago. Imagine the huge physical effort that job would require. How many people do you know that have to move a lot when working? the majority of my friends are sat at desks.

People walked miles almost no one had a car when your Grandma was young. Even 50 years ago we all walked to primary school. From age 9 I had a 4 mile round trip walk every day.

People eat huge amounts of food, I have some of DH Grandmother's 1970’s dinner plates, they are tiny compare to my actual dinner set.

we all sit toasty in our well heated and insulated houses.

Absolutely. We haven't got the heating on yet and it's getting chilly. Therefore I am running around the house, fixing, tidying, sorting or going for walks, anything active as sitting around on the sofa mumsnetting relaxing is just not fun when it's cold.

YANBU.

The cold always makes me lethargic. Our house is cold.

I believe it's been scientifically proven to make a small difference, but it's not going to solve the obesity problem if we all shiver through the winter. Same as drinking ice cold water.

Haha no!

Seriously, it's too much food and lack of exercise that's making people fat.

If they keep up what they're doing now, they could move to an igloo and it's really not going to make much difference.

I knew two of my great-grandmothers growing up and they were big ladies, always were from the photos I've seen, born 1900. Not sure everyone was slender, they had fat and thin just as we do now. People who eat too much and move too little are going to be bigger.

Ha, same. Whilst going through my anorexia I wore thin clothing, all the time. I think I knew instinctively that being cold burned more calories.
Just googled and shivering for an hour uses 400 calories.
If you times that by the entire winter period and the fact that food was simple and plain and not vast amounts of meat, then yes it had some effect.
So did walking everywhere, using peggy tubs? Those washing machines that you more or less did most of the work.
Carting your shopping home a few times a week. I'm pretty sure my mum went three times a week shopping and refused to use an old lady trolley (that I see are almost fashion statements now)

I do remember every big meal we had were with bread and butter (real butter) or masses of potatoes presumably to fill us up. Most lunchtimes if we had one was sandwiches with sliced cheese or meat, no sauces, no extras, only one sandwich.
I'm not that old but I remember most of my childhood feeling hungry.

People used to walk a lot more.

Your grandmother is correct about the cold, although it's only one factor. I have lived in some very cold places (Nordic countries, above the arctic circle) where most of the year it was between -7 and -25. Yes, you wrap up warmly when going out and have heating on indoors, but your whole lifestyle includes dealing with the cold. You burn up masses of calories just living, you eat more but the weight drops off. Believe me, it does....

However, in the UK we no longer do 'cold living' and we certainly don't tend to stay outdoors very long in minus temperatures anymore, unlike in the 50s and 60s when children would be outside all day, playing in freezing weather and snow. And we do keep our houses/shops/offices too warm, preferring to keep wearing our blouses and T-shirts rather than thick pullovers indoors in winter.

But it's only one factor. We're also fatter because of processed food, larger portions, different types of food, snacking, less manual labour, not as active.... All sorts of other reasons too.