My son went trick-or-treating for Halloween, and the picture above is just a part of his haul.
It’s a striking change from when I was trick-or-treating, in the 70s and 80s. It was exciting, back then, to get a a snack-size candy bar. Much more common were hard wrapped candies like butterscotch, and things like that. We got lots of small lollipops as well. And sometimes, people would give out little boxes of raisins, which we were not very excited about.
The candy situation is very different now. Snacks-size candy bars are the most common candy out there. And frequently, people tell the trick-or-treaters, “Grab a handful, we haven’t had many kids come by”.
This is an example of the types of changes that are causing the epidemic of obesity
I have many more details in my book Weigh Every Day, but this is an example of the type of change in our food habits that are causing the epidemic of obesity. One butterscotch candy has 20 calories. One fun-size Snickers bar has 80 calories. Given the choice between a small butterscotch candy and a fun-size Snickers bar, most people will choose the Snickers bar. It’s just how we’re wired.
It’s important to know and really understand what’s causing people to eat so much more now, compared to 30 or 50 years ago. This can be a huge help both when you’re trying to lose weight, and when you’re working on keeping it off.
