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Started By
Message
re: The size of the average American WW2 soldier compared to today’s average American male
Posted on 8/5/25 at 8:53 am to weagle1999
Posted on 8/5/25 at 8:53 am to weagle1999
quote:if you’re 5’10 200 lbs and don’t work out intensely, you’re fat as frick
The average height and weight of a U.S. male in 2024 was 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm), and they weighed 200 pounds (91 kg).
0
Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:47 am to jlovel7
quote:
There’s also been a depression going on. I imagine a lot were not well fed.
There’s an antique store in my town that’s great. Every time I go in there they have WWII uniforms and I’m always shocked how tiny they are.
FIrst, I read a book that talked about how back then a lot of boys were rejected by the Army because of mal-nutrition. Some boys only ate bread and potatoes... The author called the good stuff productive food. There was a big issue on a lot of the boys having a terrible diet.
On the uniforms.. Yes they are small sometimes... Thought to fit on a normal sized mannaquin... Hats too.. always small.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:37 am to weagle1999
Odd comparison comparing a decade of people who were just above starving to a modern time of processed food.
I would think a better comparison would be late 50s-60s to today where you ae comparing two prosperous times/.
I would think a better comparison would be late 50s-60s to today where you ae comparing two prosperous times/.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:45 am to weagle1999
Also, go to the Louisiana capital and look at the seats in legislature peanut gallery, and most can't get our wide butts into the little seats and knees would be cramped. People in South Louisiana were smaller then the north L.A. observers in the early 20th century.
(Disclaimer: That's the way it was 10 years ago. They may have changed it by now.
(Disclaimer: That's the way it was 10 years ago. They may have changed it by now.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:54 am to weagle1999
I’m 5’9” and weigh 142. I fall in the range of a 1940s WW2 soldier.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 12:03 pm to weagle1999
Most of the men in WW2 were raised in the great depression.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 12:33 pm to White Bear
quote:
It’s the growth hormones in beef and chicken.
That's certainly a factor.
Also, there were no gamers in their time. Those talking about some not being able to survive the military.....While that's true, I'd wager ever more wouldn't have survived living through everyday life prior to WW2. Most of those people grew up hard as hell, by today's standards.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 1:30 pm to weagle1999
5'9" with a 39.7" waist and 200 lbs? Lord help y'all.
I feel I'm fat at 5'11" w a 33" waist at 180 lbs.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 1:50 pm to White Bear
I'm blasting 2ius a day!
Posted on 8/5/25 at 1:52 pm to winkchance
(no message)
Posted on 8/5/25 at 1:52 pm to weagle1999
In WWII the average age of the combat solder was 26. In Vietnam it was 19...nnnnnn nineteen.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 1:54 pm to winkchance
quote:
would think a better comparison would be late 50s-60s to today where you ae comparing two prosperous times/.
Look at high school and college yearbooks from that era. Almost everybody is thin and the one or two fat kids in every class are merely a little husky by today's standard.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 3:54 pm to Demonbengal
The school lunch program was initially instituted by the Dept. Of Defense because they had to turn away so many potential conscripts due to malnutrition experienced.
They wanted to make sure the next crop of draftees had at least 1 good meal a day.
They wanted to make sure the next crop of draftees had at least 1 good meal a day.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 4:25 pm to Obtuse1
quote:
That's a baw setting themselves up for an AR 600-9 separation.
You got it wrong, baw. They lifted weights when they played football in high school and are still carrying a lot of muscle. I promise. All these baws are built like Kyler Murray.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 4:43 pm to s0tiger
Abe Lincoln was tall. I don’t know what’s up with humans getting bigger, but it’s a fact we are bigger. It’s really gotten out of hand the last 30 years. Obviously the food we consume in the U.S. probably has something to do with it. I was up north in Wisconsin and Minnesota recently. The girls up there are taller in general than down south. Guess the Northern European countries settled up there.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 5:23 pm to tigercross
quote:
You got it wrong, baw. They lifted weights when they played football in high school and are still carrying a lot of muscle. I promise. All these baws are built like Kyler Murray.
They all think that until the tape and calipers come out, then most get hit with the realization that they are just a fat body.
I did have a gunner in my first platoon who was a bodybuilder. ~6'3" and maybe 240. He had to go the tape and caliper method, but I never saw anyone bother to actually try to use the calipers; he was obviously carved from stone. They would have likely broken the calipers.
The biggest body composition issues I saw was in ROTC where you are a civilian 90% of the time and beer consumption was high. It was never an issue in the active units I was in but I was lt infantry so the op tempo helped a lot. It appered much worse in POG units and I saw it a lot in the reserves.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 6:03 pm to Obtuse1
In the 1930s and 1940s, it wasn’t unusual to see college basketball centers who were in the 6’3” range.
Posted on 8/5/25 at 6:22 pm to Jimmyboy
quote:
People eat more nowadays that’s for sure
All the white men carrying around all that fricking privilege
Posted on 8/5/25 at 6:26 pm to Jobin
quote:
Last I stepped on a scale I was 207 at 6’5”. frickin fatasses.
Okay now, bean pole!
Posted on 8/5/25 at 6:42 pm to jlovel7
quote:
There’s also been a depression going on. I imagine a lot were not well fed.
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