As an old who can remember the late 1960s (barely) I endorse your comment. I distinctly recall vanity sizing starting in 1989 (Spiegel is the first company that perpetrated vanity sizing, in my experience). The late 1970s is when exercising became fashionable , as toned muscles not just thinness was admired, which helped stave off the damage done by the US government for a few years : But once the US government endorsed a low fat/high carb diet, that was all she wrote :-(  Obesity and its concomitant diabetes  have skyrocketed since,and it would take a global war and depression to reverse this nightmare IMO. BTW, as Asians change to a western diet, their bodies are getting fucked over too : China's type II diabetes rates have gone up by 1200% since the year 2000. No, that's not an extra zero.  (BTW, I have an old relative who was diagnosed with type II diabetes in January. He went to a strict fresh vegetables/some fruit/red meat/full  fat/minimal carb diet , and a daily 30 minute walk. He has gone from a BMI of 34.2 to a BMI of 25.1, being only 10 lbs away from  a BMI of 24/20 lbs away from goal weight. If an old man can do it, so could the young (under 40) fats we see waddling around (assuming they're not in a motorized cart of course). With his doctor's blessing, he has gone off metformin entirely, as he has so repaired the damage he did to his body that his blood glucose level is going too low, even though he still has a bit of weight to lose. It CAN be done, but damned few even try :-( ) ETA Not that anyone will see this : His BMI hit 24.9 this AM. Technically he is no longer even overweight, though obviously the margin is so small he still needs to lose some pounds. His final goal is 160-165, his high school weight.