[Yaelle]

My point is that we ate a lot and exercised but little in the 1950s and 1960s, but obesity was still rare.

But wasn't the eating constrained to mealtimes? When I lived in France in the early 80s, I noticed that the French were simply NOT FAT, although they are a lot for lunch and dinner. (Breakfast was often just coffee and a cigarette for them...)

I remember hanging out with a French friend and she would say "Oh, I am STARVING to death!" While in her home with a kitchen full of food. She would not consider going to get something to eat, like we Americans would, because it was NOT YET MEALTIME! She waited! Who does that here??

[dsc]

“But wasn’t the eating constrained to mealtimes?”

When I was a young enlisted man, I ate only when the chow hall or mess decks were open. Got lots of exercise, too. Put on weight.

Heck, I put on fat in boot camp.