Did Parents Monitor Children's Food Intake More Closely in Past Generations Than Now?

Question

I have had older people (in their 50's and up) tell me that their food intake was completely controlled by their elders when they were kids. The parents made their breakfast for them. Made the lunch FOR them. Cooked dinner for them and sat with them. Only one or two cookies after dinner for dessert (they never just got to eat them right out the package whenever they pleased). Restaraunts (even MCDONALDS) were very rare treats. Being a vegetarian was considered ridiculous, and their parents made them eat their meat. My question is, how did people who LOVED food and were always and constantly hungry stand it? I am not overweight (I am 140 at 5'10) but I couldn't imagine NOT dining out with friends/family at least once a week and just eating whatever I wanted when I want (because I eat constantly, and I am a vegetarian). I know there were many less fat people, but weren't people miserable when they didn't get to choose their eating habits (provided they were overall healthy)?

Answer 1

I controll everything that my son eats (he is only 3) He never goes hungry, he loves good food, and he has never had McDonalds. Practically everything that he eats I make from scratch. We eat every meal at the table. The only time we eat infront of the tv is if we are watching a movie (once a week) . And that is a small snack is preportioned before we sit down. Btw we don't have cable or anything.

Answer 2

In those days you ate what your mother made. That's all there was. She made our breakfast, packed our lunch for school (sandwiches and fruit) and cooked our dinner at night, which we ate at the table together, after washing our hands. Our snacks were an apple or banana, and our drinks were milk or water. Our dinner at night was usually meat and 3 vegies, but sometimes we had baked beans on toast or something easy like that. That's all there was so that's what we ate. Highly processed food didn't really exist. You don't miss what you never had.
I can't remember an overweight person when I was a kid. Or a really skinny person for that matter. Everyone was the same.I also never knew any really sick people.

Answer 3

I think the thing to look at here is that back then foods where generally home cooked so it did give parents more control over what their kids were eating. Today everything is about convenience and speed. There is so much more sodium and fat in our diets because so much more is processed, and we desire meals that require little time to prepare.
I think also, we are not as sated with the prepared foods as we are with home cooked. Ever notice after a great home cooked dinner, your not hungry a few hours later like with a prepared meal?

Answer 4

I wished there were still more limits on what and how families eat like there was 20+yrs ago.
I have also noticed that the soda, cereal,meat and dairy aisles at the grocery stores are 10x bigger than 20+ yrs ago.
More variety coupled with less importance on portions and BOOM! Fat country.

Answer 5

Not in my case. There just wasn't much on TV, the Internet didn't exist, and video games sucked; so there wasn't a lot keeping me indoors sitting around on my *** and stuffing my face like a lot of kids do these days. So, you had to use your imagination and go outside and find stuff to do. In the process, you usually got plenty of exercise and you weren't sitting around eating a box of ding-dongs.

Answer 6

if their call is on the plan then they're privilege to any of the information it really is disbursed to or from the phone. plus in the journey that your a minor they quite somewhat personal something you do besides. the purely reason they could likely favor a court order that i can imagine of might want to be if the phone replaced into lower than someone except the mum and dad or the youngster's call.

Answer 7

Not sure my parents weren't that way.My Mom never told me stories like this one lol.But it does sound terrible

Answer 8

No. Not really. If you are healthy, you feel better and therefore happy.