What do you think?

True! The more we help our weak survive, the less healthy our future generations will be.


As for living longer - don't forget quality of life issues. Take a stroll to your local nursing home and then ask how much healthier we are....
many of those folks ARE dead they're just not in the ground...

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Hut on the Hill Farm
http://www.hutonthehill.org

just wanted to say i appreciate everyone's input, this is an interesting topic to me and i like to see what others think on it.

That answer is very well put. It's kind of the basis of my family's health care. For the most part we live our lives without modern medicine, except for checkups and tests to discover problems early. We don't take prescription (or OTC) drugs or most vaccinations, but when someone breaks a leg or cuts an artery open, the ER doctors are our best friends. I'm a volunteer paramedic so I very much believe in emergency medical care for injuries, but for diseases the best route is prevention. That means not eating much modern "food" and getting plenty of exercise, among other healthy living habits.

Infant mortality 100 years ago has already been mentioned, but so far nobody has thought of maternal mortality. Women have died in droves over the centuries during or soon after childbirth, and they died at a relatively early age if they did survive childbirth by having a baby unfailingly every year - year after year. They wore out early, back then, and little wonder! Most women were toothless wonders well before they reached 40, due to calcium losses as a result of pregnancy (and, possibly also to poor nutrition).

I wonder how much the average increase in height is the result of better nutrition, and how much is due simply to evolution (call it genetics if you prefer)?

I think country people fared better than town-dwellers, because they grew their own food (crop diversity was the In Thing then), and had plenty of exercise. Even then, it wasn't an easy life.

There is no doubt that improvements in medical care has contributed to our current longevity. Simple and common diseases like flu, measles, mumps and the like killed off whole populations, but are now treatable.

Perhaps if we threw in the figures for Third World countries into the equation, life expectancy figures would drop dramatically. Infant and maternal mortality, poor nutrition, disease and war - frankly I don't think things have improved all that much if you look at the broader picture, worldwide.

Obesity, diabetes, heart and liver disease, cancer (to name a few) - these are all on the increase, so I think the figures will have changed before too long.

In short - in terms of which I'd prefer (now or then), it's Hobson's choice. Six of one, and half a dozen of the other!

I agree- while in season it was of necessity fresher some ate nohting but bread bacon and dried beans all winter- remember LHOtP?

I can't imagine that striving to simply find enough to eat is less stressful than a traffic jam.

being fat used to mean being healthier.

now anything that makes you loose weight is considered good. I think its only the lesser of two evils. I like the ads now about people who drink milk losing more weight. does that make it good for you? I think it makes it bad for you. that means your body doesn't process it efficiently. I like milk anyhow.

your meals 100 years ago may have went in this order. corn porridge for dinner, hunk of lard and corn porridge for dinner the next day, ooh found an apple on the way to the corn fields, its got a worm in it, oh well, breakfast. corn porridge for dinner.

the wealthy ate better, I'm sure. of course wealthy meant you had a cow, and a horse and could buy nice fabric to make your own clothes. in the house you built with your bare hands. most people weren't that lucky.

healthier in some respects, not so in others.

I think people are less healthy as far as infectious disease goes. It could be argued that it is "unnatural" to have viral disease race so easily through our compact and well traveled society. I think its weird when people think its normal for their kids to be sick all the time.

overall I think that the past and how people lived is very romanticized by movies and tv, and although I think there is some value in reverting to old ways we need to be realistic.

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A mystery is not an explanation..... on the contrary....no sooner is a myth forged than, in order to stand it needs another myth to support it.

I grew up in the most stable Jewish neighborhood in the world in the 70s. We also had a few Korean immigrants. The tiny concentration camp survivors and also the very petite Korean immigrants produced strapping tall lads who played football with the best of the fourth generation steelworkers in our area, and daughters as tall as or taller than me.

also in answer to the evolution question. when thinking along those lines you must take into account that natural selection is the vehicle to change. if a trait doesn't offer some advantage, it won't, neccessarily, change the species.it gets very complicated, especially when factoring in complex cultures like humans have. if height were playing a factor now, in modern times, it would mean that for whatever reason tall people were having more offspring survive than short people. I seriously doubt that is happening. a common misconception about evolution is that species just morph into other things or develop new traits for no reason. many doubts are created concerning evolutions legitimacy simply because people don't understand.

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A mystery is not an explanation..... on the contrary....no sooner is a myth forged than, in order to stand it needs another myth to support it.

There is no question much of our better health today is related to greater education & knowledge. We now know the health risks of open sewers, the importance of cleanliness, the benefits of a balanced diet, the importance of keeping our drinking water free from contamination.
Technology also has much to do with our better health. Refrigeration and modern transport made it possible to eat fresh vegetables & fruits 365 days a year.

Modern medicine has blessed us with miricle drugs such as penicillin, polio vacines, tetanus shots and the like. 200 years ago, injuries requiring stiches commonly led to death.

We continue to acquire knowledge through greater education. We now know the risks of smoking tobacco and second hand smoke.
We know that eating fatty foods increases our cholesterol and can lead us to increased risks of heart disease.

Advances in birth control means women now have the choice to become pregnant at their own choosing. This undoubtedly has advanced womens health eons above what it was only a few generations ago.

I have long thought that the "good ole days" weren't all that good when it came to health.

Is everything great in this day & age we live in? Of course not. Corporate America in the ever elusive search for profits, continues to provide less than healthy foods such as high fructose corn syrup. Television is turning us into unthinking zombies, passively being entertained, as we continue to stuff ourselves overweight.

Of course, at the end of the day, we now at least have THE CHOICE to eat healthy and live a healthy lifestyle.

I can't even remember the last time I shaved my legs - High school maybe? Armpits? fagettaboutit.

Donsgal

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)