4 ms·

The question is why we stuff our holes too often now. It is not just availability of food. Even comparing to the 1970's or 1980's when food was already widely a

The question is why we stuff our holes too often now. It is not just availability of food. Even comparing to the 1970's or 1980's when food was already widely available and cheap obesity prevalence is still increasing. The shift from manual labour to sedentary jobs doesn't explain it. Office workers in the 1980's on average were less obese than the general population now and even people with physical jobs (construction workers) are more often obese.

yoyohello13 5y ago
Maybe it's a combination of sedentary jobs and also sedentary leisure. In the 1970s or 1980s people didn't have the plethora of activities we have today that involve staring at a screen.
- b112 5y ago
  Maybe, but, I remember newspapers saying things like "Americans now watch an average of 5 hours a day of TV", in the 80s. And the term "couch potato" was common. And all the snacks we have now, existed then...
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    In the 1980s, fat (the dietary kind) became evil. All the prepared foods that were high in fat started to reformulate. What did they replace it with so it still tasted good? Sugar, primarily corn syrup. "Fat Free" became the label they wanted. The prepared and snack foods of the 1970s often had sugar, but by the 1990s more of the products had a lot more, and more of it was HFCS not the more expensive cane sugar.
pxeboot 5y ago
Obesity has become far more socially acceptable since the 70's/80's. Being the "fat kid" at school was a big deal back then. Now it is completely normal in many places.
- PuppyTailWags 5y ago
  Is the implication here that shaming fatness made people thinner? If so, how did acceptability even start if shaming was so effective?
  - pxeboot 5y ago
    Social pressure is a powerful motivator for many. I would speculate the issue has just been slowly progressing for the past couple decades. The same amount of negative social pressure from being 15 lbs overweight in the 90s may be closer what somebody receives at 50 lbs now.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - blindmute 5y ago
    It obviously is. First and second generation immigrants from Asia don't get fat, despite eating much the same Western food. It's extremely shameful for them.

yoyohello13 5y ago

Maybe it's a combination of sedentary jobs and also sedentary leisure. In the 1970s or 1980s people didn't have the plethora of activities we have today that involve staring at a screen.

b112 5y ago
Maybe, but, I remember newspapers saying things like "Americans now watch an average of 5 hours a day of TV", in the 80s. And the term "couch potato" was common. And all the snacks we have now, existed then...
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  In the 1980s, fat (the dietary kind) became evil. All the prepared foods that were high in fat started to reformulate. What did they replace it with so it still tasted good? Sugar, primarily corn syrup. "Fat Free" became the label they wanted. The prepared and snack foods of the 1970s often had sugar, but by the 1990s more of the products had a lot more, and more of it was HFCS not the more expensive cane sugar.

pxeboot 5y ago

Obesity has become far more socially acceptable since the 70's/80's. Being the "fat kid" at school was a big deal back then. Now it is completely normal in many places.

PuppyTailWags 5y ago
Is the implication here that shaming fatness made people thinner? If so, how did acceptability even start if shaming was so effective?
- pxeboot 5y ago
  Social pressure is a powerful motivator for many. I would speculate the issue has just been slowly progressing for the past couple decades. The same amount of negative social pressure from being 15 lbs overweight in the 90s may be closer what somebody receives at 50 lbs now.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- blindmute 5y ago
  It obviously is. First and second generation immigrants from Asia don't get fat, despite eating much the same Western food. It's extremely shameful for them.