Posted on 02/26/2026 5:13:46 PM PST by BenLurkin
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday revealed that childhood and teen obesity rates in the U.S. have reached record highs in recent years.
The first report details how the CDC’s researchers found that 40.3 percent of adults 20 and older were found to be obese, which included 9.7 percent who have severe obesity and another 31.7 percent who are classified as overweight. This report was conducted between August 2021 and August 2023.
Between 1988 and 1994, when the second report was being surveyed, researchers found that almost 23 percent of adults 20 years and older were found to be obese. Of that number, 2.8 percent had severe obesity, and 33.1 percent were deemed overweight.
The researchers relied on heights and weights established by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to monitor and track years-long trends. Surveying for both reports was paused starting in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in August 2021.
Professor David Ludwig of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health called the rate levels “exceptionally concerning.” He noted in a report published by the school that obesity rates were previously on a decline for children between 2 and 5 years old in the 2010s, something he said was a “glimmer of hope.” What reached down to 9.4 percent between 2013 and 2014 jumped to a 14.9 percent obesity rate.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
I absolutely agree. That is why we need 1960s playgrounds. What is why SATURDAYS 1960s are so important. Not screwing around on a playing field. When you are 4 to 12 years old.
Need to be playing biking games.
Yeah it is hard to imagine that. I am not much of a grazer type eater. I metabolize slowly anyway. But a lot of “healthy” style marketing is garbage food. I felt best when I was 100% Keto. I lost weight pretty easily. Going off it, the weight rebounded. And it wasn’t because of snacks or way too many calories. I believe it was because of food types. And, I can admit, not enough exercise or activity.
Growing up in the 40s and 50s, there was no snacking, not even with healthy foods. We ate three times a day at which times we were appropriately hungry. This is among the many reasons that I think today’s 75 to 90 year olds are going to be the healthiest old cohort for many future generations.
We also walked everywhere as families only had one car which went to work with our fathers. When we got older, we continued or started exercising, if we had not before.
You gonna eat all those?
I am NOT over weight!
I am under tall.
You say this like it’s a bad thing.
It was my common sense that said, “No.”
Fluid milk (specific fat levels depending on participant)
Cheese (usually block or sliced, certain types only)
Yogurt (specific sizes and fat levels)
WIC‑approved breakfast cereals
Whole wheat bread, tortillas, brown rice, oatmeal
Peanut butter
Beans, peas, lentils (dry or canned depending on state)
Fresh, frozen, or canned (with restrictions on added sugars/sauces)
Purchased using the Cash Value Benefit (CVB)
100% fruit or vegetable juice in approved sizes
Infant formula (specific brands/types)
Infant cereal
Infant fruits and vegetables
Typically one dozen, white, large eggs
Modern wheat really has changed dramatically compared to what your parents or grandparents ate, and the shift is big enough that people feel it in their bodies, their baking, and their digestion. The core issue isn’t “GMOs” so much as intense hybridization, selective breeding, and yield‑maximizing agriculture that reshaped the grain at a genetic and nutritional level.
Two major forces reshaped wheat:
Beginning in the mid‑20th century, wheat was aggressively bred for:
shorter stalks (to prevent lodging and increase harvest efficiency)
much higher yields
disease resistance
uniformity for industrial milling
This “Green Revolution” wheat is genetically very different from older landrace varieties. Modern wheat varieties have “dramatic transformations” driven by selective breeding and genetic advances, which altered both yield and nutritional profile.
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a hexaploid species formed 8,500–9,000 years ago through hybridization between earlier wheat species and Aegilops tauschii. This ancient hybridization created the basic wheat humans ate for millennia.
But the recent hybridization and selection cycles—especially since the 1950s—have been far more aggressive and rapid than anything in its ancient evolution.
The wheat your grandparents ate (often heirloom or early 20th‑century varieties) differs from modern wheat in several ways:
Higher gluten strength in modern wheat (bred for industrial baking and long shelf life)
Lower micronutrient density Higher yields dilute minerals like zinc, iron, and magnesium.
Different starch composition Modern wheat tends to spike blood sugar faster.
Reduced genetic diversity Many old varieties disappeared as a few high‑yield strains took over.
More uniform but less flavorful flour Industrial milling favors consistency over taste.
These shifts are why many people say modern bread feels heavier, less digestible, or simply “not the same.”
Hybridization isn’t inherently bad—ancient wheat itself was a hybrid—but the speed and intensity of modern breeding created:
new protein structures
new gluten ratios
new starch behaviors
new plant architecture
These changes happened faster than human diets or microbiomes could adapt.
Hybrid wheat research continues today, with major investment in new hybridization technologies aimed at even higher yields.
People often notice:
bread doesn’t rise the same
dough behaves differently
store‑bought bread stays soft for weeks
some develop sensitivities they never had before
These aren’t illusions—they reflect real biochemical changes in the grain.
The Amish are gonna win.
RE: The Amish are gonna win.
An old cooking show I happened to watch a couple of times:
Amish Cooking from Quilt Country: With Marcia Adams.
Can’t remember the amount but she said the Amish men did so much sawing, lifting, carrying, pulling, plowing and harvesting tasks all the daylight hours without machinery and labor saving devices that they could eat 8,500 calories (I think) a day and never gain an ounce of weight.
there aren’t many fat ones, but the inbreeding is taking a toll.
https://amishamerica.com/do-amish-have-genetic-disorders/
I’ve been reading about older types of wheat, like Einkorn and Khorasan, and interested in experimenting with them.
I think those were meant to exaggerate symbols of fertility, not to depict contemporary women...
Depressing.
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