07-05-2022, 08:08 PM
What an odd title for a thread, right? (probably what you may be thinking right now). Odd indeed, because as I intend to illustrate, it is the venerable Snack Pack Pudding which speaks volumes about our society, and health and many other things. In fact, as you will see, Snack Pack Pudding may just be the 'Poster Child' for a whole lot of things wrong today. Trust me, this is about much more than just pudding!
For those unfamiliar, Snack Pack Pudding, started out as a small tin of pudding (chocolate, vanilla (my favorite) and some other flavors) back in the late 60's and early '70's. Sometimes when Mom was feeling particularly generous, she'd put a Snack Pack Pudding in my sack lunch as a kid. It was very rare, but it did happen. More often though, I would trade something at school to get a Snack Pack Pudding. They were good...I thought.
The other day, on a lark, my wife bought some "Snack Pack Puddings". (We both like pudding). My first reaction was...'this isn't the Snack Pack Pudding I remember as a kid!!'. And this revelation sparked a bunch of research on my part, the results of which are actually pretty surprising.
First of all, the 'new' Snack Pack Puddings are TINY! So, I wondered just how "tiny" are they...in comparison to what I remember as a kid? Well, it turns out, the original Snack Pack Puddings were sold in 5 oz. cans. The new Snack Pack Puddings are sold in 3.25 oz containers. So, the original puddings were 35% larger than those today. My first reaction was to assume this was all just due to corporate profiteering. Well, not so fast!
Next, I started thinking about (of all people) Michelle Obama, and her crusade about all the fat little "obese" kids running around America and how it was because they were eating so unhealthy. Granted, there's probably healthier things to eat other than pudding, but still. Okay, so manufacturers are being 'shamed' into not selling such large portions (and this was a push in the media if you recall). Plus, they could make more profit, right? So it was a win-win.
I don't recall what Snack Pack Puddings cost back in 1968 when I first got one in my lunch, but I'd be wiling to put money down betting on the fact that, even though 35% smaller, a Snack Pack Pudding probably costs 200% more than it did in 1968.
It wasn't long before I found countless other examples of these same sorts of things. I used food items I remember as a kid, and compared them to food items for kids today. In summary, what I found was a calorie count today which is far less than the calorie count we had as kids. Far less!
So where are all these "fat" kids coming from???? Sure, lack of physical activity comes quickly to mind, and I'd be foolish not to point this out right up front, but does this explain it all?? I wasn't sure...so I looked deeper.
Recently, I've lost a lot of weight...a LOT of weight! In fact, I've lost 50lbs. I am a very large boned, 6 foot 4" (size 15EEE boot) guy. At the top of my life weight-trajectory I weighed 287lbs. That was too much, and I needed to lose weight, no argument...but how much weight? Herein lies a very interesting fact I found in all my research.
I've always been a pretty healthy and athletic person (no stranger to the gym and weightlifting). Consequently, I've always kept tabs on what are appropriate weights for me based on bone density, height, age, etc. Historically, those numbers recommended by the "experts" have always been in the 230-240lb range. So I decided to check again now, now that I've lost a bunch of weight.
Well, well...guess what all the "experts" say I should weigh now??? A laughable 170lbs!! If I weighed 170lbs. not only would I be absolute skin and bones, but I'd look like a zombie! There's no way, just NO WAY, I could ever get down to 170. I weighed 170 when I was in Jr. High School! In fact, if I weighed 170, I'd be downright sick (i.e. sunken eyes, and the whole bit). But all of this wasn't the most surprising part, believe it or not. Even more surprising was, I just weighed this morning...231...yay! I looked up 231, and it says I'm "Obese". You can see my ribs for cripes sakes! I'm obese??? I can push out my belly and still see my belt buckle. I'm obese?
Conclusion - Kids today might be little "fatties" running around, but the truth of the matter is...they've lowered the bar, considerably, about what is considered 'obese' to a point which doesn't even seem healthy to me.
For those unfamiliar, Snack Pack Pudding, started out as a small tin of pudding (chocolate, vanilla (my favorite) and some other flavors) back in the late 60's and early '70's. Sometimes when Mom was feeling particularly generous, she'd put a Snack Pack Pudding in my sack lunch as a kid. It was very rare, but it did happen. More often though, I would trade something at school to get a Snack Pack Pudding. They were good...I thought.
The other day, on a lark, my wife bought some "Snack Pack Puddings". (We both like pudding). My first reaction was...'this isn't the Snack Pack Pudding I remember as a kid!!'. And this revelation sparked a bunch of research on my part, the results of which are actually pretty surprising.
First of all, the 'new' Snack Pack Puddings are TINY! So, I wondered just how "tiny" are they...in comparison to what I remember as a kid? Well, it turns out, the original Snack Pack Puddings were sold in 5 oz. cans. The new Snack Pack Puddings are sold in 3.25 oz containers. So, the original puddings were 35% larger than those today. My first reaction was to assume this was all just due to corporate profiteering. Well, not so fast!
Next, I started thinking about (of all people) Michelle Obama, and her crusade about all the fat little "obese" kids running around America and how it was because they were eating so unhealthy. Granted, there's probably healthier things to eat other than pudding, but still. Okay, so manufacturers are being 'shamed' into not selling such large portions (and this was a push in the media if you recall). Plus, they could make more profit, right? So it was a win-win.
I don't recall what Snack Pack Puddings cost back in 1968 when I first got one in my lunch, but I'd be wiling to put money down betting on the fact that, even though 35% smaller, a Snack Pack Pudding probably costs 200% more than it did in 1968.
It wasn't long before I found countless other examples of these same sorts of things. I used food items I remember as a kid, and compared them to food items for kids today. In summary, what I found was a calorie count today which is far less than the calorie count we had as kids. Far less!
So where are all these "fat" kids coming from???? Sure, lack of physical activity comes quickly to mind, and I'd be foolish not to point this out right up front, but does this explain it all?? I wasn't sure...so I looked deeper.
Recently, I've lost a lot of weight...a LOT of weight! In fact, I've lost 50lbs. I am a very large boned, 6 foot 4" (size 15EEE boot) guy. At the top of my life weight-trajectory I weighed 287lbs. That was too much, and I needed to lose weight, no argument...but how much weight? Herein lies a very interesting fact I found in all my research.
I've always been a pretty healthy and athletic person (no stranger to the gym and weightlifting). Consequently, I've always kept tabs on what are appropriate weights for me based on bone density, height, age, etc. Historically, those numbers recommended by the "experts" have always been in the 230-240lb range. So I decided to check again now, now that I've lost a bunch of weight.
Well, well...guess what all the "experts" say I should weigh now??? A laughable 170lbs!! If I weighed 170lbs. not only would I be absolute skin and bones, but I'd look like a zombie! There's no way, just NO WAY, I could ever get down to 170. I weighed 170 when I was in Jr. High School! In fact, if I weighed 170, I'd be downright sick (i.e. sunken eyes, and the whole bit). But all of this wasn't the most surprising part, believe it or not. Even more surprising was, I just weighed this morning...231...yay! I looked up 231, and it says I'm "Obese". You can see my ribs for cripes sakes! I'm obese??? I can push out my belly and still see my belt buckle. I'm obese?
Conclusion - Kids today might be little "fatties" running around, but the truth of the matter is...they've lowered the bar, considerably, about what is considered 'obese' to a point which doesn't even seem healthy to me.