Originally Posted by
50PlusCycling
The old food pyramid existed when I was a kid, and obesity was rare. Breakfast was always a huge bowl of cereal which had the word "sugar" in the name, and I could always pour in a little more if my "Super Sugar Crisps" or "Sugar Smacks," or "Sugar Frosted Flakes" weren't sweet enough. Lunch was PB&J (with extra J) on Wonder Bread, and half pint (or 2) of chocolate milk. Dinner was meat; burgers, pork chops, round steak, meat loaf, or chicken, with some sort of vegetable, and bread. I pretty much never drank water, except from the fountain at school during PE. Breakfast and lunch were chocolate milk, Koolaid or soft drinks later in the day, milk at dinner. I ate as much candy as my allowance and grass cutting could pay for. Candy bars were 25 cents each (formerly 20 cents each, but inflation sucked in those days), and I'd eat them (all 4 of them) on the way home from the store.
But kids were physically active. We had PE every day at school, every kid played some kind of sport, for me it was little league. Or I'd hop on my BMX bike and ride out to the river (10 mile round trip) to break/burn/blow something up, or terrorize wild animals with my wrist rocket sling shot (I was a bad kid). We had ball games on the street in front of our homes from after homework until dinner time. In the warmer months we could swim at the community pool, or take the bus to the beach for 45 cents. No video games, no computers, no phones, very little TV except on Saturday mornings and 7pm to 9pm on weekdays.
Kids -
All of my kids are/were active in sports all year round. My girls swam year round with groups of other girls that swam year round. Two a day practices, team USA swimming, and down in SC - neighborhood swim teams were locally super competitive. Very few of these kids were skinny like the old days.
My son currently races MTB's - there are a bunch of soft bodies in his league, same when he wrestled.
I also pay attention when I visit my daughters at college, even noticed this a bit when they were in HS: (this may go over like a led balloon)
-Both boy and girl body types have changed. Not just becoming soft bodied, but less differentiation between the two.
I work with a young Chem E - brilliant kid. Masters degree, MBA, PE - working on a PHD. When he first came to work with us fresh out of college - my office picked up a few jobs to expand food processing plants. We learned the ingredients and additives being put in these foods - and he has the understanding of what they do to the human body.
He personally struggles with a soft body - in his own words, there is no man in him - even after years of MMA style training.... and he is the reason I pay attention at my kids schools. He flat said our body types are being shifted by the additives/hormones and chemicals in our processed foods. Male and female hormones are muted - creating blended body types with little difference. And our brief work in the industry backed his claims.
All we need to do is look at our youth. Soft, heavy, high levels of metabolic disease, lack of hormone production...