Why did young people in the 50's look so old? (greatest, 50s)
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And 25% died of TB, Polio and Cystic Fibrosis. Looking back I see everyone dressed like little adults, now the parents try to look like teeny boppers
We think people today are fit, but in reality people were much more fit during that time. Everyone has a gym membership, but it isn't working. From 1950 through 1960, 33 percent of U.S. adults were overweight and 9.7 percent were clinically obese. Obesity was not yet recognized as a disease in the 1950s. By 2000, 30.5 percent of Americans, almost one-third, were obese. An additional 4.7 percent were severely obese. The topper is 68% of all adults today are overweight or obese. A serving of soda in 1950 was 6 oz. By 2000 the serving size available was up to 24 oz.
We think people today are fit, but in reality people were much more fit during that time. Everyone has a gym membership, but it isn't working. From 1950 through 1960, 33 percent of U.S. adults were overweight and 9.7 percent were clinically obese. Obesity was not yet recognized as a disease in the 1950s. By 2000, 30.5 percent of Americans, almost one-third, were obese. An additional 4.7 percent were severely obese. The topper is 68% of all adults today are overweight or obese. A serving of soda in 1950 was 6 oz. By 2000 the serving size available was up to 24 oz.
There was no high fructose corn syrup in the '50s. Also, people smoked a lot more, and it goes without saying that with more smoking comes less obesity.
I look at pictures of high schoolers from the 50's, and they look like old people to me. Maybe women's hairstyles were all short back then and this is the main reason why. It's sad how little in common their generation has with the young people of today. I think the teens of today will never really get old, and the baby boomers were the generation that thought they were the first "cool" generation, but now a lot of them seem old anyway.
The kids back then didn't look old. They just looked more like their parents than kids do today.
Until the baby boomers, every generation of teens looked and dressed more similarly to adults, even though there were teen fashions. This was due to the fashion industries' focus on adults as the designer's largest target.
By the 60's, the affluence of teens created a great change in the fashion industry, and the situation reversed- the fashion industry began following teen fads and fashions, because that was where the most money was. This, in large part, is why we all wear bluejeans so commonly now.
When you have 20 more years on you, you'll understand. Your grandchildren will think you looked old when you were a kid, too. Teens of the future may not have the money for fashion you have, and they may end up looking more like your parents than you.
ne interesting thing I picked up long ago is: Most people tend to prefer the clothing and hairstyles that were fashionable when they were 18 for most of their lives. They also prefer the music they listened to when they were 18 as well.
We think people today are fit, but in reality people were much more fit during that time. Everyone has a gym membership, but it isn't working. From 1950 through 1960, 33 percent of U.S. adults were overweight and 9.7 percent were clinically obese. Obesity was not yet recognized as a disease in the 1950s. By 2000, 30.5 percent of Americans, almost one-third, were obese. An additional 4.7 percent were severely obese. The topper is 68% of all adults today are overweight or obese. A serving of soda in 1950 was 6 oz. By 2000 the serving size available was up to 24 oz.
This is true! I remember reading something humorous about someone's grandfather laughing at all these people riding bicycles that go nowhere, climbing stairs to nowhere, walking to nowhere, etc.
I look at pictures of high schoolers from the 50's, and they look like old people to me. Maybe women's hairstyles were all short back then and this is the main reason why. It's sad how little in common their generation has with the young people of today. I think the teens of today will never really get old, and the baby boomers were the generation that thought they were the first "cool" generation, but now a lot of them seem old anyway.
You sound SOOOO young. In a way that you will probably feel embarrassed about when you get 'old' which you will discover is in the blink of an eye.
Parents and children dressed alike and had similar haircuts, not like today.
The son wore khalis and had a buzz cut like dad.
Today, the son's pants are below his butt, and he may have long hair, while dad is wearing more consevative clothes.
There was no high fructose corn syrup in the '50s. Also, people smoked a lot more, and it goes without saying that with more smoking comes less obesity.
The WHO (World Health Organization) ran surveys and found that heavy smokers are actually more obese than nonsmokers. Research has also shown that smoking 4 cigarettes increases a persons EE (energy expenditure) by only about 3.3%. Smoking and HFCS have an effect, but the major culprit is serving size/calorie consumption and what selections of food we eat (along with the lack of physical activity). Sweets, desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages account for nearly 25 percent of all calories consumed by Americans. Healthy fruits and vegetables make up only 10 percent of caloric intake in the U.S. diet. Lisa Young, Ph.D., R.D., nutrition consultant at New York University compared identical recipes in different editions of Joy of Cooking and discovered that the current recipes make fewer portions. For example, the same brownie recipe using identical ingredients yielded 30 brownies in the 1970s and 16 brownies now. Each brownie is now twice as big. All portions from breakfast and coffee all the way through dessert are way bigger than they ever were.
Re the bolded--good catch. In the fifties, girls were still setting their hair in rollers and using hairspray to hold their 'dos. Vidal Sassoon, who died last week, changed all that in the 1960's with "wash-and-wear" hairstyles for women. You were looking at a huge cultural change in your yearbook!
You know, I went back after I posted my comment and looked at my yearbook and at some photos of my mother from the 1950s. I counted six girls who had her adult, tightly curled perm look....virtually the same hairdo. Truly, they look like cloned hairdos. It was a small town with a limited choice of hairdressers, maybe these girls went to the same one as my mother.
They looked older because teenaged boys wore suits to school and had conservative haircuts.
What I find strange is that those haircuts for boys are back! Why would anyone want to have a 50's-type buzz-cut or crew cut? I can't relate to the current styles, they seem like a throwback to an era we might rather forget.
There are baby boomers now who still look like college students or 20-somethings. Some have aged unusually well. People have been working out and taking better care of themselves the last couple of decades. There's much more information about nutrition available now than there was before. There's organic food.
We think people today are fit, but in reality people were much more fit during that time.
I disagree with this. Middle-aged and older women back then didn't exercise at all. People controlled their weight by being perpetually on a diet, but they had no muscle tone and were flabby. I weigh more than my mother, due to greater muscle mass, but I'm a size or two smaller. If we take average people, they're more fit today. I tend to put obesity well outside the average, though I guess these days it's really skewing the statistics as to what truly is "average" in the US.
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