4 ms·

One possibility: we have been collecting learning to use our feet less throughout life. "In 1969, 48 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or

One possibility: we have been collecting learning to use our feet less throughout life. "In 1969, 48 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school (The National Center for Safe Routes to School, 2011). In 2009, 13 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school (National Center, 2011). In 1969, 41 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school; 89 percent of these children usually walked or bicycled to school (U.S. Department of Transportation [USDOT], 1972). In 2009, 31 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school; 35 percent of these children usually walked or bicycled to school (National Center, 2011)." [Source](http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/introduction/the_decline_of_walking_and_bicycling.cfm http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/introduction/the_decline_of_...)

raws 3y ago
Yeah I'd believe a stronger sedentary lifestyle is the biggest factor in the waste line stagnation if the diet is not the same. They did not have omnipresent smartphones in 1970.
- arketyp 3y ago
  Heck, back in my days, we kids at least had to walk to each other's house to play video games together.
anonymouskimmer 3y ago
I wonder how jobs have changed too. I started gaining weight when I switched from a delivery job to a lab job.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
Yeah, I always get a bit amused when people point to one sole food or environmental issue ("microplastics!" says one comment) to blame for the obesity epidemic, when there are two glaringly obvious pieces of data: 1. As another commenter posted, total calories consumed per capita has gone up considerably since 1970. 2. As you posted, we move a lot less than we used to. There are tons of studies that confirm this across a number of different metrics (e.g. average grip strength has gone down considerably since the 80s, 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... ). We eat a lot more, of more foods that have higher calorie-to-nutrient ratios than we used to, and we move a heck of a lot less.
somenameforme 3y ago
The amount of calories burnt through exercise is completely negligible. For instance running a mile at a good pace will generally burn around 100 calories, the same as you get from eating about one banana, or about drinking about half a bottle of Coke. Exercise does have many positive metabolic and other benefits, but not anywhere enough to be a causal explanation on its own. If people started walking 5 miles a day, every day, not only would there still almost certainly be a widespread and growing obesity epidemic, but there's even an argument that it could be worse. Increases in activity tend to drive increases in hunger which will typically surpass caloric deficits if somebody is not actively controlling their diet, in which case they would not be fat in the first place. This is made even worse by misleading advertising which will do things like showing fit athletes drinking Gatorade, Coke, etc during their training or competition. And somebody goes and does a couple of miles on a training bike and does the same thing - which is going to send their net caloric input skyrocketing.
- profile53 3y ago
  On the other hand, 50 calories x 365 days a year x 20 years x 5,000 calories per lb of weight = 75 lb of additional weight. > Increases in activity tend to drive increases in hunger As far as I know, certain types of high intensity exercise do so but not necessarily all exercise.
  - somenameforme 3y ago
    I'm not fond of the calories/lb calculations because everything's really relative to where your caloric equilibrium point is, but this is an aside. Let's take your numbers at face value, and now consider that in 1970 the average American was eating 2,025 calories. Whereas by 2010 we were up to 2,481 [1] - a total increase of 456 calories/day! If we take your numbers at face value, that'd be a delta of 684 pounds per 20 years. Again kind of an obvious indicator why these long term calorie/pound measurements are pretty dubious, but at the same time also an indicator of why diet is just so much more important than exercise for weight management. [1] - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/12/13/whats-on-...

raws 3y ago

Yeah I'd believe a stronger sedentary lifestyle is the biggest factor in the waste line stagnation if the diet is not the same. They did not have omnipresent smartphones in 1970.

arketyp 3y ago
Heck, back in my days, we kids at least had to walk to each other's house to play video games together.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago

I wonder how jobs have changed too. I started gaining weight when I switched from a delivery job to a lab job.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

Yeah, I always get a bit amused when people point to one sole food or environmental issue ("microplastics!" says one comment) to blame for the obesity epidemic, when there are two glaringly obvious pieces of data: 1. As another commenter posted, total calories consumed per capita has gone up considerably since 1970. 2. As you posted, we move a lot less than we used to. There are tons of studies that confirm this across a number of different metrics (e.g. average grip strength has gone down considerably since the 80s, 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... ). We eat a lot more, of more foods that have higher calorie-to-nutrient ratios than we used to, and we move a heck of a lot less.

somenameforme 3y ago

The amount of calories burnt through exercise is completely negligible. For instance running a mile at a good pace will generally burn around 100 calories, the same as you get from eating about one banana, or about drinking about half a bottle of Coke. Exercise does have many positive metabolic and other benefits, but not anywhere enough to be a causal explanation on its own. If people started walking 5 miles a day, every day, not only would there still almost certainly be a widespread and growing obesity epidemic, but there's even an argument that it could be worse. Increases in activity tend to drive increases in hunger which will typically surpass caloric deficits if somebody is not actively controlling their diet, in which case they would not be fat in the first place. This is made even worse by misleading advertising which will do things like showing fit athletes drinking Gatorade, Coke, etc during their training or competition. And somebody goes and does a couple of miles on a training bike and does the same thing - which is going to send their net caloric input skyrocketing.

profile53 3y ago
On the other hand, 50 calories x 365 days a year x 20 years x 5,000 calories per lb of weight = 75 lb of additional weight. > Increases in activity tend to drive increases in hunger As far as I know, certain types of high intensity exercise do so but not necessarily all exercise.
- somenameforme 3y ago
  I'm not fond of the calories/lb calculations because everything's really relative to where your caloric equilibrium point is, but this is an aside. Let's take your numbers at face value, and now consider that in 1970 the average American was eating 2,025 calories. Whereas by 2010 we were up to 2,481 [1] - a total increase of 456 calories/day! If we take your numbers at face value, that'd be a delta of 684 pounds per 20 years. Again kind of an obvious indicator why these long term calorie/pound measurements are pretty dubious, but at the same time also an indicator of why diet is just so much more important than exercise for weight management. [1] - https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/12/13/whats-on-...