Were our grandparents a healthier bunch?

[cupid04]

Seeing the 'I'm hungry' thread here earlier set me thinking my grandparents
used to have four meals a day, ie:- breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper.
And they both liked their sweets but neither of them were overweight. My
Grandad used used to walk a mile a day to fetch his newspaper. There weren't
so many take-aways then, but they liked the occasional fish and chips and
sheeps head [yuk]. My sister and I used to love sheep's brains on toast when
we visited. Couldn't do that now! They weren't great drinkers but my nan liked
the occasional sherry. When did we become such a unhealthy lot ,never walking anywhere etc?

[deggers316]

yes but most work then was really hard work which burnt calories off.
tv caused most people to be unfit through lack of exercise but thats only one of hundreds of thing that make us seem less fit, i googled on this a while ago, in the 1950 the average weight on a man was 10 st now its 12 stone
but i also know that in grandmas days almost every had false teeth !

[flump1]

Remembering my own Grandparents, my paternal side worked hard all their lives , both smoked and died within months of each other in their 70 s. My maternal grandparents both worked hard and both died early, both smoked . I don't remember any of my grandparents drinking alcohol. tea was their tipple and I follow them !! I don't think mine were any healthier than those of today.

[Tilly2]

Both my grandads were miners and therefore worked extremely, physically hard. Both died from industrial related diseases.
Both my grandmas had worked in the potteries as young girls had nine and seven children respectively, and, in their fifties, suffered and died from cancer.

Yes, they were all slim and yes, they all ate dairy produce and as much red meat as they could get but no, they were not healthier than I am.

[commoner]

My Grandad died at 62...worked himself to death down the pit for a pittance that meant he couldn't afford decent food for his wife and 12 (twelve) kids....My grandmother lived a year or two longer but was totally worn out from lack of proper diet and from having and bringing up the same twelve kids.....

I'm 78 and have no health problems of note even though I have lived through most of the "unhealthy" modern era......Mrs C is the same.....

Your grandparents are maybe much younger than mine but compared to the age in which my grandparents were living I would say we live a healthier life now despite the temptations of ready meals and Tv watching....JMO

[craft1948]

In 1950 wasn't rationing still in force, so they wouldn't weigh very much would they?

[commoner]

The problem with answering this post is that all of us have grandparents from different time periods.....1940/50 rationing didn't have anything to do with my grandparents...they were dead by then....they were born when Q Victoria was on the throne and brought up their kids in the 1900 to 1920 period.....Hard times for poor folk ....really hard.

[craft1948]

Sorry commoner I was replying to degger's post re weight in 1950.

[commoner]

No problem with that craft...but you are right about that particular period....MY period in fact ..I was a trim 10 stone in 1955 when I married mrs c aged 21....the war had made sure I never became overweight......she was 8 and a half stone and pretty as a picture..;-))

[askyourgran]

My fathers parents were quite poor and had a hard life, both died in their 70s they had 12 children. My maternal grandparents weren't that well off either, Grandad was a pit foreman, strong as an ox, he didn't drink or smoke though. He lived to be 85 my grandmother died in her late 70's she never went out to work. My MIL had 10 children the youngest is now 64, she was 97 when she died, my FIL was 85 liked his ale and smoked, he died of cancer 84years old. They could both turn their hand to anything to make money, He could do shoe repairing, she would lay people out who had died, and even whitewash cellars. No cars No TV No telephones No takeaways except the off licence.

[craft1948]

lol ayg I remember my nan sending me to the off-sales in the local pub (a hatch in the entrance hall) to get her a jug of stout on a Friday night.

[cathfromsaron]

in the 1940s, if you think being cold, short of food, worried about money and the war are romantic and welcome notions, then mine were better off!

in the 1950s and after, as for being healthier, mine were glad for the NHS and certainly walked plenty and ate food made from scratch, but didn't know so much about physical fitness and leisure and we do today!

theirs was a life of hard work and sacrifice most of the time! when they finally bought their council house and retired with a pension they were great ... before the government took all this back in nursing home fees!