Little Danny wrote: Anyone used to play "Wall Ball"? That was a game we used to play with a tennis ball or a raquetball. The object was to throw the ball against the wall as hard as you can. The ball would bounce back to some other poor slob who wold have to either catch the ball on the fly or on a bounce. If he dropped the ball, he had to run to the wall as fast as he can. Someone else would pick up the ball and either peg the guy or throw the ball against the wall. If the initial dropper did not beat the throw, he was forced to spread eagle on the wall while everyone took turns pegging him with the ball.

It was one of the most popular games at school. We used to play in the mornings and/or at lunch. Of course, it was a game that was frowned upon by the school admin. Eventually they would ban it for a while after someone get hit in the face but after a month or so we would pick right up where we left off.

Looking back on it, it was great cardiovascular exercise, helped develop eye-hand coordination and it taught you survival skills. The ball would sting for a while and occasionally someone might get a busted lip, but no one died from it.

A great game. Raquetballs were ideal. We were playing this game as late as 1995ish when I was in 4th grade. We had this one kid in my class..who would go on to pitch at Michigan State that would just kill kids in this game. He had no mercy. He threw a raquetball about 150 MPH it seemed and that thing would leave a welt for days. Good times.

HitsRus wrote: Probably more today in both categories, but our definition of mental illness has changed too.

I think there are some interesting changes that has occurred in our lifestyle....there are more 'opportunities' to be unhealthy as well as opportunities to choose health. By that I mean that increases in technology and mobility give our kids more opportunities to sit and be sedentary ( computers/video games/ children/teen TV programming)...and more opportunities to get into trouble with drugs and alcohol, as well as giving them more access to fast food. On the other side, there are more opportunities for athletic training and physical fitness, and better choices of food, and awareness/education.

Maybe from an organized perspective, but I would argue the average kid back then was more physically fit than today. Consider, kids of that era spent the entire day from sun up to sun down in the summer and weekends playing sports, riding their bikes, swimming, playing tag in the neighborhood and at the park.

I would emphaize the point average kid. As I recall, pretty much everyone I grew up with (regardless of whether you were a geek or an athlete) engaged in some fom of physcial activity outside. Today, there are a good number of kids who play no sports whatsoever and we know they are not outside engaging in physical activity. The kids who have access to the better athletic training are those that are playing sports.

I grew up in the 70's and 80's. I played a lot of football, basetballl and baseball in the neighorhood in addition to playing organized sports. Heck, I probably had more at bats, took more shots at the hoop and ran for more yards on the grid-iron in the neighborhood than I ever did playing organized sports from from ages 5-18. Also, how did we get to our organized practices: that's right, we walked or road our bikes. There were no soccer moms who bused everyone around.

Gee, I am starting to sound like my dad.

^^^^No substitute for good cheap excersize. What I was getting at was that we know what it takes to be healthy, and we have the opportunity to point ourselves in that direction rather than just a lot of random running around.

One curious point also is that in 'the old days'...the wealthy were obese from diets rich in fats and sweets. Today it is more the poor people who depend on cheap high calorie, high fat foods.

^^^ No question. You could even go far back as several hundred years ago and see pictures of the gluttonous nobility glass (Henry VIII is a good example). In addition to the cheap high calorie, high fat foods, do you notice more poor people smoke cigarettes than the people who can afford it.

My parents grew up on farms and literally ate lard sandwhiches. They had no idea what a calorie was either. That being said they worked on farms, played outside all day and were probably more "fit" than some kids today.

Overall, I just think kids today are more extreme on both sides. There are some really, really fit kids today who basically train there bodies year round, and others who do absolutley nothing. I think 50 years ago everyone was more in the middle.

I had to laugh...
I hit my refresh when leaving this thread and the first two threads were:
Subway 5 $ footlongs
Taco Bell NBA big box
LOL.... here's your sign

Zoltan wrote: My parents grew up on farms and literally ate lard sandwhiches. They had no idea what a calorie was either. That being said they worked on farms, played outside all day and were probably more "fit" than some kids today.

Overall, I just think kids today are more extreme on both sides. There are some really, really fit kids today who basically train there bodies year round, and others who do absolutley nothing. I think 50 years ago everyone was more in the middle.

That's funny. My mom used to make her popcorn with lard instead of oil. We would have that and a 16 ounce bottle of Pepsi every Saturday night. But that was the only time we drank soda or ate junk food.

The rest of the time we ate balanced meals and worked. We were never allowed to watch television except for when my dad turned it on.

I grew up in the 70's and yes I believe we were much healthier kids back in the day.