Over the last 60 years our lifestyle and eating habits have changed dramatically. As our lives have become busier, we’ve become less active and started eating more unhealthy foods. It’s easy to think that our current habits are normal, but when we look at how our grandparents used to eat, we realise just how much things have changed. Some changes are great – our diets now reflect our gloriously multicultural society.
Other changes are not so great – we tend to reach for the most convenient option which is often not the healthiest. The good news? It’s never too late to start eating more fresh and healthy foods, and it’s good to establish these habits early for kids. Let’s look at how our diets have changed since the 1950s and some simple alternatives that will make healthy eating normal.
1. Sneaky sugar.
Our grandparents certainly didn’t follow a sugar-free diet. Sunday dinner in the ’50s was often finished off with a bread and butter pudding, an apple crumble or some jelly and cream. The sugar was out and proud saying, “Hey, I’m sweet, enjoy!”. The difference now is the amount of hidden sugar we’re consuming through our consumption of processed and packaged foods. Sugar is found in pre-made sauces, breakfast cereals, fruit juice, yoghurt, even dry spice mixes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends limiting sugar consumption to six teaspoons a day for adults and three teaspoons for kids.
We’re also a much more sedentary bunch than our grandparents, so less likely to use up the excess energy (sugar) we now consume.
Top Comments
I watched a show a few years back on the ABC called "the 40s House" which focused on a modern family living the way they would have in the 40s, during the war. They were on rations, walked to shops every day to buy the food for the next few meals, washed and wrung all the clothes by hand, did all cooking from scratch, cleaned the house the hard way...at the end of their stay they had all lost a significant amount of weight and were much healthier. I wouldn't want to return to a time of rations and no electrical appliances but it did prove a point.
My grandparents only consumption of sugar would've been the little they put into their coffee. As Italians, coffee wasn't a beverage that you had multiple times a day and with lots of milk. Dessert, cakes and biscuits were a rarity, and something only enjoyed on special occasions such as Christmas.
Also the problem with the modern day consumption of pizza by many, is that what passes for pizza is a far cry from the genuine Italian article. Proper pizza isn't groaning under a huge weight of fat and greasy toppings. It is a pared back thing and without weird additives.