Not sure, I've always been lazy.
What happened in 1980?
- Thread starter Rusty Blade
- Start date
I talk to Americans and they tell me about it.
- Thread starter
- #63
I think I found the answer...
Teens Are Just As Sedentary As 60 Year Olds
Teens Are Just As Sedentary As 60 Year Olds
Junk food was a lot more expensive back then; but it was also much tastier. Now it takes more food to satiate ones taste cravings. I remember when if given the choice between a homemade sweet or a store-bought one, the decision would have been difficult. But today the homemade sweet is still as good as before, whereas the the store-bought one is tasteless in comparison.
Also, having cable TV back then meant you had like 22 channels; took a lot less time to realize there was nothing on.
Also, having cable TV back then meant you had like 22 channels; took a lot less time to realize there was nothing on.
I graduated high school in 1980 and weighed 127 lbs. I then went to college and eventually got a real job, and got married. My weight has slowly crept up ever since then.
in 1980 I was 15. I played every sport I could and had a young persons metabolism.
I'm now 51 married with two kids and travel a lot for work. It is tougher now to get the exercise that I need to get just to maintain my weight much less lose some.
I'm now 51 married with two kids and travel a lot for work. It is tougher now to get the exercise that I need to get just to maintain my weight much less lose some.
All of the above, plus psychological factors such as more stress and depression causing people to eat more, especially junk food. And more people tend to use food now to self-medicate rather than alcohol and tobacco.
I noticed the oddity of everyone being a lot thinner in movies from the 70's/80's ages ago. North Americans (us) have access to relatively cheap, low grade nutrition food in abundance and eat like it's an Olympic sport. My parents very rarely bought us a burger out and dessert was reserved for birthdays and Thanksgiving dinner. People have also adopted the notion that "cooking" involves prepackaged convenience items that are warmed up instead of the hassles of following a recipe.
Wasn't central home A/C fairly rare before the 1980? Maybe it was ramping up in the 70s but I know many older homes in my county that still have/had window air con units in the 90s. I believe excessive heat dampens the appetite and encourages one to stay thinner to shed excess heat. Even if that might help explain the southern US waistline expansion, it probably fails as a general explanation since I am under the impression that people living in the north (New England states) have had expanding waist lines as well.
CNN came on, everyone's been glued to the screen since.
dave
dave
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