4 ms·

Why It Was Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s

6 points by curmudgeon22 4y ago

curmudgeon22 4y ago
The articles guesses as to contributing factors: > People are exposed to more chemicals that might be weight-gain inducing. Pesticides, flame retardants, and the substances in food packaging might all be altering our hormonal processes and tweaking the way our bodies put on and maintain weight. > The use of prescription drugs has risen dramatically since the 1970s and ’80s. Prozac, the first blockbuster SSRI, came out in 1988. Antidepressants are now one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., and many of them have been linked to weight gain. > Study authors think that the microbiomes of Americans might have somehow changed between the 1980s and now.
- pulvinar 4y ago
  And these guesses are way off the mark. I think it was mostly that everyone smoked, which this article doesn't even mention-- very strange. I was actually heavier in the 80s, but then I never smoked. And more chemicals today?? When I was a kid in the 60s we had lead on every surface, heavy smoke indoors and out, pesticides everywhere, plenty of plastic packaging, and all sorts of poisonous things around us that have since been banned. Judged by today's standards we should have all been dead.
  - serf 4y ago
    >And more chemicals today?? When I was a kid in the 60s we had lead on every surface, heavy smoke indoors and out, pesticides everywhere, plenty of plastic packaging, and all sorts of poisonous things around us that have since been banned. Judged by today's standards we should have all been dead. there are certainly more chemicals today than then. Why? Largely to get around regulations that were put in place to curb the dangerous ones while maintaining a similar manufacturing method for any given product. This is a good thing, i'm not proposing it isn't; but there are definitely more chemicals now. The problem now is that due to the explosion in variety it'll presumably take longer to judge the risks and evaluate each one.
Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
all the abundance of stimulants ranging from nicotine to coke :)
- kleer001 4y ago
  My first thoughts exactly. Additionally no widely adopted smartphones.
yosefjaved1 4y ago
I wonder if the authors of the study considered Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). This is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, undertaking agricultural tasks and fidgeting. If they only selected white-collar / desk workers for the study, then it's possible that people expended more NEAT back then in their office environment. Just looking at movies from the 80s, you definitely see more physically active offices than what you see today. People walking around to pass memos, papers, attend physical meetings, etc in the 80s has been replaced with people sitting at a computer to send emails, chat messages, meeting invites, etc. Also,the nature of jobs people do today is a lot different. There was a study that showed US men's grip strength has been decreasing from generation to generation. No surprise given that the US economy has been changing from a manufacturing and agricultural based economy to a services one. Here's an article mentioning the study - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/13/481590997/millennials-may-be-losing-their-grip https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/13/4815909...
injb 4y ago
>>Americans are eating more meat than they were a few decades ago, and many animal products are treated with hormones and antibiotics in order to promote growth. All that meat might be changing gut bacteria in ways that are subtle, at first, but add up over time. So people are eating differently. Doesn't everyone already know that the food you eat affects how easy or hard it is to stay a certain weight? >> Americans are eating more meat than they were a few decades ago, and many animal products are treated with hormones and antibiotics in order to promote growth. All that meat might be changing gut bacteria in ways that are subtle, at first, but add up over time. ...you mean if the research is correct and if you're eating differently and taking prescription drugs that cause weight gain.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
cafard 4y ago
It was easier for me to be skinny in the 1980s: I was younger, and for the first half of those years ran a lot--at least a couple of marathons every year. But, "A new study finds that people today who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter." The 1980s were nearer 40 years ago than 20 years ago.
controversial97 4y ago
A small aspect of this may be the FDA banning diet pills made from ephedra in 2004.

6 points by curmudgeon22 4y ago

The articles guesses as to contributing factors: > People are exposed to more chemicals that might be weight-gain inducing. Pesticides, flame retardants, and the substances in food packaging might all be altering our hormonal processes and tweaking the way our bodies put on and maintain weight. > The use of prescription drugs has risen dramatically since the 1970s and ’80s. Prozac, the first blockbuster SSRI, came out in 1988. Antidepressants are now one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., and many of them have been linked to weight gain. > Study authors think that the microbiomes of Americans might have somehow changed between the 1980s and now.

pulvinar 4y ago
And these guesses are way off the mark. I think it was mostly that everyone smoked, which this article doesn't even mention-- very strange. I was actually heavier in the 80s, but then I never smoked. And more chemicals today?? When I was a kid in the 60s we had lead on every surface, heavy smoke indoors and out, pesticides everywhere, plenty of plastic packaging, and all sorts of poisonous things around us that have since been banned. Judged by today's standards we should have all been dead.
- serf 4y ago
  >And more chemicals today?? When I was a kid in the 60s we had lead on every surface, heavy smoke indoors and out, pesticides everywhere, plenty of plastic packaging, and all sorts of poisonous things around us that have since been banned. Judged by today's standards we should have all been dead. there are certainly more chemicals today than then. Why? Largely to get around regulations that were put in place to curb the dangerous ones while maintaining a similar manufacturing method for any given product. This is a good thing, i'm not proposing it isn't; but there are definitely more chemicals now. The problem now is that due to the explosion in variety it'll presumably take longer to judge the risks and evaluate each one.

Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago

all the abundance of stimulants ranging from nicotine to coke :)

kleer001 4y ago
My first thoughts exactly. Additionally no widely adopted smartphones.

yosefjaved1 4y ago

I wonder if the authors of the study considered Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). This is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, undertaking agricultural tasks and fidgeting. If they only selected white-collar / desk workers for the study, then it's possible that people expended more NEAT back then in their office environment. Just looking at movies from the 80s, you definitely see more physically active offices than what you see today. People walking around to pass memos, papers, attend physical meetings, etc in the 80s has been replaced with people sitting at a computer to send emails, chat messages, meeting invites, etc. Also,the nature of jobs people do today is a lot different. There was a study that showed US men's grip strength has been decreasing from generation to generation. No surprise given that the US economy has been changing from a manufacturing and agricultural based economy to a services one. Here's an article mentioning the study - https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/13/481590997/millennials-may-be-losing-their-grip https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/13/4815909...

injb 4y ago

>>Americans are eating more meat than they were a few decades ago, and many animal products are treated with hormones and antibiotics in order to promote growth. All that meat might be changing gut bacteria in ways that are subtle, at first, but add up over time. So people are eating differently. Doesn't everyone already know that the food you eat affects how easy or hard it is to stay a certain weight? >> Americans are eating more meat than they were a few decades ago, and many animal products are treated with hormones and antibiotics in order to promote growth. All that meat might be changing gut bacteria in ways that are subtle, at first, but add up over time. ...you mean if the research is correct and if you're eating differently and taking prescription drugs that cause weight gain.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

cafard 4y ago

It was easier for me to be skinny in the 1980s: I was younger, and for the first half of those years ran a lot--at least a couple of marathons every year. But, "A new study finds that people today who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter." The 1980s were nearer 40 years ago than 20 years ago.

controversial97 4y ago

A small aspect of this may be the FDA banning diet pills made from ephedra in 2004.