Meal-ing in the years...

A LOOK BACK AT FOOD TRENDS THROUGH AGES AS WE TRY TO CRACK THE CODE OF HEALTHY EATING

- BY MATT NIXSON

EVERY generation believes it's cracked the code to good health - yet obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol keep climbing, according to nutritionist Rob Hobson.

"Somewhere, we lost the middle ground, and our collective confusion around food has never been greater," he sighs.

Rob, whose new book, The Low Appetite Cookbook, is out now, adds: "I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when dinner came from the oven or a tin and 'healthy eating' simply meant clearing your plate"

Registered dietitian Clementine Vaughan believes confusion has often centred around vilifying a single food or food group, largely because simple messaging usually cuts through more easily than a nuanced approach of moderation and variety.

From meat-and-two-veg to TikTok hacks, here's how we got here, and the one nutrient that might help put things right...

1960s - Meat, Two Veg and Full-Fat Everything

The diet was simple in the 60s - hearty and home-cooked. Most people ate meat and two veg, usually red meat, potatoes and a boiled vegetable, with bread and dripping, full-fat milk and a pudding to finish.

Processed foods like tinned soups, Spam and custard were creeping in, but meals were still largely cooked from scratch. Eating out was a rarity and few takeaways existed.