Three Junior High/Middle School Photos for Comparison

[MineralMan]

1955


197?



2000




I'm not sure I see any clear increase in obesity in these two photos. Is this overblown?

[Oregone]

1. Shouldn't today be labeled 1975?

[sandnsea]

3. That's what I thought too

Heh, we agree on something. That's always nice!

[frazzled]

5. I was wondering about that myself!

[NYC_SKP]

7. 1973.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hueyav8r/4207837766/

[MineralMan]

13. Yeah. My mistake. I've edited the OP and added a photo.

[Libertas1776]

2. Well, if "today"

was 1970, i'd agree;-)

[texanwitch]

4. I think kids looked older back then.

I guess it was the way they dressed and the hair styles.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Um, that "today picture" is actually 1973. That's 37 years ago.

That's me in the top row.

:P

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hueyav8r/4207837766/

Just kidding, that's not me.

Edit: 27 to 37 years

[seabeyond]

8. bah hahaha. kept thinking today didnt look like today. lol. i felt like a twilight moment

was going on to try and recognify the today, with today

[smokey nj]

14. 1973 was 37 years ago.

[NYC_SKP]

18. Seems like 100.

Thanks for catching that...

:dunce:

[MineralMan]

9. Edited. My bad. The second photo is from 1970 something.

I added a third photo from 2000.

[Brickbat]

10. Is this a joke?

I'm not trying to be rude, but when you compare two class pictures from two clearly middle-class schools and try to draw any conclusion about anything, you're asking for trouble.

Edited to address the third picture: There are kids in that photo that some doctors would label overweight, and I object to names being included in that photo.

[Ineeda]

11. No way is the 2nd picture "TODAY"

Clothes, glasses, hairstyles, shoes - nothing says after, maybe 1980, at the latest. Just sayin'.

[HereSince1628]

12. This is what internets do---no one looks like a librarian anymore.

[Richard D]

15. You need one for 2009

I think you'd see a difference. I do see some increase in obesity between the first picture and the bottom one. Hard to really judge though. Scanned pages out of yearbooks would probably show more.

[GoCubsGo]

21. All one needs to do is look around.

Next time y'all are at a store, look around at the children shopping there. In my town, at least a quarter of the kids are overweight or obese.

I was one of the "fat kids" throughout my school years. There were only two or three others like me in my high school graduating class of roughly 400. My current gym is across the street from a high school of similar size to the one where I went. Many of the students go to the gym after school. I see dozens and dozens of obese and overweight teens there. Many of them far bigger than I ever was.

[sense]

16. the last pic is from 11 years ago.....

10 years makes a big difference.... where's the current one? HFCS.......changes your body processes slowly...... not that that is the only explanation.

[Recursion]

17. I see an increase in armlessness NT

[leftstreet]

20. LOL

:rofl:

[DavidDvorkin]

19. The plural of anecdote is not data

That's become a cliche in recent years, but perhaps that's because it needs to be repeated so often.

[mike_c]

22. small sample size, difficult to interpret data....

Obesity rates are averaged over thousands of students. Worse though, is attempting to see it this way. How about average BMIs for a sample of, say, 1000 8th grade students in 1955, 1985, and 2005? BMI data will show obesity clearly.

[WatchWhatISay]

23. How strange that the male adult is stuck in the middle of the group in the 1973 picture.

Yet the female adult is in the traditional place for a teacher.

[FreedomRain]

24. Really poor form to place names here on that 3rd photo.

You may have a point, but on anecdotal evidence only, not sciency enough.

Clearly the 70's had the beautifullest girls, the coolest fashions, and overall shininess, though. I think we all can agree to that :D

__________-
Y'all should edit that last pic , or find another, seriously