I’ve heard older family members say “I weighed 93 pounds on my wedding day”, and then you see a picture of them and they were slim but healthy looking (meanwhile, if you plug in their BMI, it shows that the number is so dangerously underweight).
Are those family members exaggerating, or has there been a significant change to body composition/muscle mass in people over the past 50+ years (based on diet, lifestyle)?
Semi related: could this be the origin of some men thinking that all “thin” women weigh 120 pounds (regardless of height)?
Edit: NOT talking about obesity, more like how can a person have been 93 pounds in 1960 but have an identical looking body to someone who is 130 pounds today?
In: Biology
Yes people did weigh less, and people weigh more now, because over our over abundance and easy access to food. not all people who weighed a lot less in history were healthy, but also not all the people who weigh more now are healthy.
As far as looks go? Yes people are looking more fat, than they are skinny for a variety of reasons including but not limited to:
-genetics
-society (stupidly imo) pushing fat acceptance
-ultra processed foods or calorie dense foods being the main food type most people eat
-lack of activities that keep us active that are free or affordable to do
-sedentary jobs
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