During the Great Depression, notably in the 1930s, the United States faced a significant public health challenge due to widespread malnutrition and undernourishment among its population. This era, marked by economic hardship, saw almost no obesity, with over 10% of draft-eligible men in 1940 being screened as malnourished. The government expressed concerns about the potential difficulty in finding fit men to fight in World War II, highlighting major readiness concerns. This situation led to the nationalization of a school lunch program to address the issue of underweight and malnourished Americans. Observations from the time note the absence of modern diet and fitness trends, such as gyms, SoulCycles, yoga classes, and nutritional science, pointing out the lean condition of New Yorkers in 1930 despite the lack of these facilities. The era was humorously noted as '1930 was 100% fat free,' underscoring the natural leanness due to economic conditions rather than lifestyle choices.
Fitness is a game of adherence at the end of the day One of the key components of adherence is doing what you enjoy because you’ll do that consistently Now there are clear parameters & principles we must achieve to make progress, but we have a vast, vast amount of ways to do it
Everyone talking about diet but missing activity. All of these people are walking. Today, most Americans don’t have to walk. Activity is something you must add into your life, rather than a default state. Still benefits NYC to this day: https://t.co/y0KBLPonl0 https://t.co/eu76XLwsiQ
Probably because a lot of people were struggling during the Great Depression? 🤔 https://t.co/TnHVVlTcrV
1930 was, apparently, 100% fat free. Guess eating real food is a good idea. https://t.co/JK037hKhvp
Take a look at New Yorkers in 1930 after a decade of economic exuberance. There were no gyms, SoulCycles, yoga classes, or running shoes. There were no diets, Ozempic, USDA pyramids or degrees in nutrition science. Yet, look at how lean everyone is. Makes you wonder. https://t.co/hN6m2ULlnW
New York City, 1930. Before the obesity epidemic https://t.co/CxZ8Ig8jfy
Because this was the middle of the Great Depression. People were so undernourished that by 1939, the government expressed concern that finding fit men to fight in a World War would be difficult, creating major readiness concerns. https://t.co/t9A7eSr4G8
Almost no obesity in the 1930s, and instead over 10% of draft-eligible men screened in 1940 were malnourished. https://t.co/dXUxQ1goqd
A fun and amusing fact is that Americans were so underweight and malnourished during the Great Depression that it was a major concern for war readiness and actually led to the nationalization of a school lunch program. https://t.co/w0MS26bRDc https://t.co/XpYsvbNdzZ