That’s early to pass away. There were some flu types that killed a lot of people at the turn of the century.
On the other hand if you look at early pictures everyone is pretty think where now we have a lot of very heavy people. I wonder if we have reached a peak and are starting to decline in terms of physical health.
My family...both sides...were *very* poor when they left Ireland (125+ years ago) and when they arrived in Boston they found themselves in the poorest part of the city.A hundred years ago the Irish were the n*ggers of Boston,blacks not having yet arrived from the South.My Dad's older brother used to tell stories of routinely seeing signs in the windows of employers "No Irish Need Apply".
Poor housing conditions,poor nutrition,no access to health care (thanks to poverty) were the culprits for us...and others as well.
On the other hand if you look at early pictures everyone is pretty think where now we have a lot of very heavy people. I wonder if we have reached a peak and are starting to decline in terms of physical health.
I think you're right on that.But obesity is most assuredly a "disease" of prosperity.I've done some traveling in Third World parts of the world and I guarantee that you don't see obesity there.As for a decline in health...if that's actually happening most Americans have nobody to blame but themselves,IMO.