Originally Posted by
Daniel4
I just posted an article from the cbc that references the same study.
There is a difference between normal and average. The average American is overweight. That's not normal.
What's normal may surprise you. Some people might say it's skinny because they are not accustomed to seeing many people that are normal.
I remember and old radio program on cbc radio about the battle of Cannae. In that program, the narrator described that Roman Soldiers were about 135lb. They were recruited from farms so they were accustomed to eating grains and had endurance. The gladiator physique would be too expensive to maintain inthe Roman army.
The Iceman found in the Alps was about 55years old. His weight was estimated to be about 110lbs.
How many people do we know today aged 55, weighing 110lb can climb the Alps on his own?
We can't just assume that lighter always means healthier...110 pound or 135 pounds for a modern 6 foot tall man would be anorexic...The main reason why people in the old days weighed less and were smaller was because of poor nutrition and inconsistent unreliable food supply. Roman soldiers were short and light, but many of the Germanic and Northern tribes were much taller and weighed a lot more.