Baby Boomers sicker and frailer than previous generations

I can guess how this thread will go, I think.

Maggieanne

Do you remember when we thought Hattie Jaques was fat, that's what we called it then, but having seen her in films she was nowhere near the size of a lot of people that we see nowadays, we just see overweight as normal.

I was thinking along those lines recently, too. I read something about the late singer Meat Loaf and I remembered how his USP in his early days was his massive size, when rock stars of the 70’s were generally svelte or even scrawny eg Mick Jagger/Freddie Mercury.

Nowadays, we see people the size of Meat Loaf every time we go out, many of them really quite young, and his size would not be at all remarkable. Ironically, by the time he died, he had slimmed down considerably from his weightiest days.

Hatfield Jacques was hefty, as was Meatloaf.
I never considered them to be lightweights.

Hattie...
(Short for Hatfield)

As well as everything mentioned on here wrt lifestyle, ultra processed food, high sugar and fat in almost everything on the supermarket shelf etc, I believe our immune systems are being weakened drastically by indoor and outdoor pollution. The polluted air we breathe, the cocktail of pesticides on our food. Micro plastics now in everything including our vital organs, Sewage in our streams and rivers. We are literally, as a human race, poisoning ourselves to death. It’s all man-made and absolutely crazy. Most of the changes went in the way of ‘progress’ but if you look more carefully it’s more like the greed of the capitalist society.

That's right @lamusica and our genes are in fact capable of being switched on or off by environmental influences.

A lot of the cause was the start of the Fast Food chains. I can remember watching kids, the same age as my kids only interested in eating chips.
While during the wart there was food rationing and people were advised to grow their own vegetables

The two big culprits are capitalism and the technological revolution - capitalism because this motivated the development of food, drink and tobacco products (fizzy drinks, fast food) after WWII leading to a huge rise in mental health problems in American children/youth especially (and the subsequent opportunities for Ritalin seized by big pharma), and the technological revolution which enabled people to buy whatever they want by perusing a screen and clicking a button.

It is depressing to see so many young people who are seriously overweight, with children who are following the same route. You can regularly see the worst kind of unhealthy food in shopping baskets. I really don't know the answer to this - it has been discussed so many times on GN, but surely basic healthy cooking skills should be instilled from an early age at both home and school. Jamie Oliver had an uphill struggle trying to promote healthy school food - parents were buying fish and chips and handing it through the school railings.

Not sure if I believe this report. My parents were extremely fit, walked everywhere, cooked from scratch, grew their own veg and had fruit trees as well and didn’t drink alcohol or smoke. Dad died in his 60s, Mum in her early 70s. It’s the luck of the draw. I’m a polio’ survivor but have lived beyond what they did even though I have restricted mobility and some breathing problems. I don’t feel old or knackered even though I worked beyond my retirement age. I can’t remember the last time I had a cold and don’t take any of the drugs that a lot of over 50s take because my BP, sugar levels , thyroid etc. tests always come back “bob on”.

I’m 73 my husband is 76. We are extremely active . Play 18 holes of golf twice a week ( walking a very hilly course) we swim a lot in the summer. Eat very healthy food and drink in moderation. Neither of us smoke. Junk food has never appealed to either of us. We retired to live on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus which suits us perfectly. Sunshine, stress free and wonderful food.

NannyJan53

Mum is almost 95, and always puts her longevity down to growing up in the 30's and 40's where there were no junk foods, no sweets or biscuits much during the War, and no supermarkets to tempt you to buy more than you need.

Also she said she walked everywhere rarely even took a bus.

I am sure that’s why. Walking is so important too, but most of us (myself included) are our own worst enemies because we drive a mile rather than walk. Junk food is to blame too, or rather, our greed for it.

We only had the wimpy bar, brown derby was a rare treat, McDonald’s wasn’t about back then. The Only ready meal I can think of, was those vista chowmein meals with the crispy noodles. We only had home cooked meals ever, we couldn’t afford to eat out, only for birthdays did we eat out.

Growing up everything was cooked from fresh, no ready-made meals. Fish and chips were the only takeaway foods, Saturday night, and a visit to the Wimpy for a birthday treat. Walking to school and playing outside almost daily. To be honest it was very rare I ever saw an overweight person whereas nowadays sadly its commonplace and many being young people.

SueDonim

Maggieanne

Do you remember when we thought Hattie Jaques was fat, that's what we called it then, but having seen her in films she was nowhere near the size of a lot of people that we see nowadays, we just see overweight as normal.

I was thinking along those lines recently, too. I read something about the late singer Meat Loaf and I remembered how his USP in his early days was his massive size, when rock stars of the 70’s were generally svelte or even scrawny eg Mick Jagger/Freddie Mercury.

Nowadays, we see people the size of Meat Loaf every time we go out, many of them really quite young, and his size would not be at all remarkable. Ironically, by the time he died, he had slimmed down considerably from his weightiest days.

It worries me when I see so many youngsters, around 5 - 11 or so who are overweight. What will they be like when they are older? Surely it can’t be good for them and I can’t think what the parents are thinking letting their children risk their health.

Well as a boomer I've outlived my grandmother and her daughters, how? Well I just didn't inherit the BRCA1 gene that killed them. Clever me hey.

So many generalisations on here, I nearly choked at the one about we all grew out own fruit and veg. I was born in my gran's house, six back to back houses sharing one yard which included two toilets one for the front houses and one for the back houses and of course the wash house which the woman worked out some sort of rota for who used it when. The idea that there was anywhere to grow their own fruit and veg is just hilarious and the idea any of them had the time or energy is also so funny except it is so tragic. Those women spent all their time and energy fighting vermin and poverty and their husbands were working long hours in conditions that would be unbelievable now. So yes the ones who survived to 60 were strong, the weak were long dead.

My gran had 7 babies and 3 of them grew up, again the strong survived. I suppose Sparta had the right idea after all.

My poor MiL always did the right things, not overweight, never smoked, hardly drank, made her own stoneground whole meal bread for years, walked or cycled just about everywhere - and still died of cancer at only 68. Her younger brother died of cancer a year or two previously, and her own mother died of cancer in her late 50s.

OTOH her elder brother, who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish, went on into his late 80s - no cancer.

I’m sure a lot of it’s down to the luck of the draw re genes.

Witzend

My poor MiL always did the right things, not overweight, never smoked, hardly drank, made her own stoneground whole meal bread for years, walked or cycled just about everywhere - and still died of cancer at only 68. Her younger brother died of cancer a year or two previously, and her own mother died of cancer in her late 50s.

OTOH her elder brother, who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish, went on into his late 80s - no cancer.

I’m sure a lot of it’s down to the luck of the draw re genes.

Absolutely. When I saw the Professor of Genetics to get my results I felt like I'd won the lottery, in the main it wasn't about me it was my DD and DGDs. I hadn't passed on a bad ticket in the genetics lottery.

When my gran and the first of her daughters died BRCA1 hadn't been discovered and I'm sure that in future other genes are going to be discovered so that people like my cousins with the gene will at least be carefully monitored and offered surgical options that could save lives.

theworriedwell

Well as a boomer I've outlived my grandmother and her daughters, how? Well I just didn't inherit the BRCA1 gene that killed them. Clever me hey.

So many generalisations on here, I nearly choked at the one about we all grew out own fruit and veg. I was born in my gran's house, six back to back houses sharing one yard which included two toilets one for the front houses and one for the back houses and of course the wash house which the woman worked out some sort of rota for who used it when. The idea that there was anywhere to grow their own fruit and veg is just hilarious and the idea any of them had the time or energy is also so funny except it is so tragic. Those women spent all their time and energy fighting vermin and poverty and their husbands were working long hours in conditions that would be unbelievable now. So yes the ones who survived to 60 were strong, the weak were long dead.

My gran had 7 babies and 3 of them grew up, again the strong survived. I suppose Sparta had the right idea after all.

Yes , so many generalisations on this post . My paternal grandparents and my dad lived in a council flat in south london , with just a small balcony , so not able to grow stuff . My grandad was a docker and worked long hours at the London docks . My grandmother was a seamstress. Their flat was in a quad with washing lines in the square below . So she had to go up and down four flights of stairs to dry her washing . No tumble dryers and no lifts . Shopping and babies also had to be lugged up and the stairs , which were spotless because the women scrubbed the stairs and the area outside their front doors. So neither had any spare time. My grandad died aged 46 from respiratory problems linked to dust from loading coal or grain onto the ships .
My in-laws also lived in a council flat , again didn’t grow anything . My mil fried most things in loads of fat , she never grilled anything, or she boiled veg with lots of salt . They both took 3 teaspoons of sugar in their tea . Puddings came in a tin, cakes from mr Kipling and custard from a packet. My mil rarely cooked from scratch. She worked and didn’t have the time . She died aged 85 , fil aged 92

I passed the local high school today, shocked at how many children are obese-
Back in the 70s, you would only see maybe one or two obese kids in each year, they were the kids that no one wanted to pair up with in school sports.
We would all play down the rec, well council have bought the rec & built houses- in fact all our school playing fields are all housing estates now 😩

MissAdventure

Hatfield Jacques was hefty, as was Meatloaf.
I never considered them to be lightweights.

That’s my point, though. They were outliers because of their body size. Nowadays, they wouldn’t be, because we see people of that stature every time we go out.

Today I saw a hugely overweight woman with an equally overweight boy of about 10yo. I felt so sorry for him, because it was obvious where his future lay. It didn’t look hopeful for him.

I would argue that this theory is hard to prove as those born before WW2 did not “bother” the doctor if they could help it and their families remembered when one had to pay for a doctor’s services. Doctors and hospital were to be avoided.

Who knows what ailments and disabilities they put up with without treatment? Conditions which would now be treated and recorded? Anything minor, which we might consider important, would be completely ignored.

I remember going to Disneyland and was distracted by the fattest people that I'd ever seen .
When I ate in cafes and restaurants I was shocked at the portion sizes and the huge customers .
It would have been in the early eighties .
My Canadian relatives said that American meat was full of steroids and that was exacerbating the weight problem .
I don't know if it was and is true .

Now I see overweight people all the time tucking into fast food .
I'm uncomfortable with my own weight , but I do try to eat properly and exercise . I think that my mother was slimmer and fitter than I am at the same age though I recall her complaining about being tired .
But her mother was fatter and less fit -I think that I'm more like her .
She was the only grandparent that I knew so I can't make an accurate comparison .
I certainly notice amongst my friends that they are either gym bunnies who are obsessed with dieting or really fat and into a lot of what the hell eating .

Transport and diet the certainly changed since WW11. Only transport I had as a child was a bus and certainly not for every journey I undertook. Mile and a half walk to primary from age 5. To secondary school 2 and a half mile walk. Going out to eg cinema ut was a good 3/4 hour walk. All clubs and activities required walking to and fro. There were only school lunches, no taking food with you other than something for playtime which wasvusualky a butter and jam roll. In last year at secondary a tuck shop was created but this only sold nuts and crisps.
At home afrer school it was tea time and that could be bread and butter and a banana or some cold neat wuth tomato, certainky not a dinner menu, we'd had that at school.
You only bought what you needed, not shopping trolly loads full, and there wasn't the massive amount of processed foods available or sweetstuff. A biscuit to me was a rich tea or digestive spread with butter.
Certainky did not go about snacking like the young do nowadays. I bet portion sizes were a lot smaller too.

I guess also we were the first generation after the war where the females had children but also went to work so that was stressful,too. Juggling jobs and little ones. As to fat kids, I often collect grandchildren from school and I can’t say I have seen any from their very large school. Not one. Maybe that is just that school but I doubt it. My grandchildren and great grandchildren are too skinny if anything and so are their friends. Tall ,though!