I do think there's something to the potentially negative consequences of plastics and chemicals. Virtually everything we touch all day long -- from our toothbrush to our phones to computer keyboards to to the coffee maker to cooking utensils to food storage containers to the steering wheel and other parts of our cars we touch, etc. -- are plastic or some sort of chemical conglomeration. Try to get through the day without touching something plastic. Add to that all the chemicals we're now ingesting in cosmetics, food additives, etc.

Young girls are beginning to develop breasts and having periods earlier and earlier, some as early as 6 or younger, due to the estrogen-mimicking plastics out there.

Portion size is definitely a factor also. I remember the rare occasions when my family (mother, father, older sister, and me) had take-out pizza for dinner. A large pizza fed all of us. These days, my husband and I can polish off a large pizza without even trying. And, I'd venture to say, a "large" pizza then was smaller than than a "large" pizza today.

I look at the casserole dishes my mother used, and there were always leftovers. Now those dishes look so small.

It's not one thing. It's many things working against us now.

Oh, and can I say that I really don't like the euphamism of "curvy" that is used for women today? To me, "curvy" means an hourglass figure, with larger breasts and hips and a smaller waist. To others these days, "curvy" is a nicer way of saying someone is carrying a lot of extra fat. Even the term "obese" has changed definitions. To me, people are at a good weight, slightly overweight, obese (like 275 pounds for a 5'6" woman), or morbidly obese (like 500+ pounds for a 5'6" woman). It seems like today the ranges for normal and overweight have gotten much smaller, and the ranges for obese and morbidly obese are much larger.