On a Diet
Since the 1950s, significant numbers of Americans have dieted to lose weight or improve health. As the nation’s food supply expanded and included more processed foods, so did concerns about the relationship between food, body image, and health.
Food advice, based—often, but not always—on new scientific research, has come from diverse government and private sources. Over time, guidelines have also been contradictory, leaving consumers confused about what to eat and what to avoid. Various fad diets found fleeting favor in the late 1900s, but by the 2010s an underlying message kept emerging: if you can, eat more vegetables and fruits, fewer processed foods, and as Julia Child famously said, “eat everything in moderation.”
As attitudes about food, nutrition, and the body continue to change, many eaters have embraced the idea that good health also requires attending to mental and physical fitness.
Blood glucose meter, OneTouch II, around 2001
Gift of Bettee-Aynn Amsterdam Thomas
Diet aid, Grapefruit Diet Plan, around 1993
Gift of Richard Peckman, R.Ph.
Weight Watchers food scale, around 1992
Gift of Ashley Rose Young in memory of Sharon Rose Young
Weight Watchers member Sharon Rose Young used this scale to prepare recipes that fit within the program's dietary guidelines.
Diet aid, Metrecal, around 1985
Gift of The Fournet Drugstore Collection
100-calorie drinking glass, 1977
Gift of Nanci Edwards
The markings on this glass indicate the 100-calorie level for twenty-two popular beverages, from egg nog (two ounces) to tomato juice (ten ounces).
Lose Weight! kit, 1965
Gift of Paula Johnson
This gag gift focuses on overeating and weight gain.