-Caveat Lector- >New York Times >September 19, 2000 > >Book Maps a Nation's Spurts of Clean Living > > In the fall of 1977 the American Cancer Society organized the > first national "Great American Smokeout," urging smokers to quit > for a day. Within five years, Jerry Falwell founded the Moral > Majority and Jane Fonda sold millions of aerobics videos. Dr. Ruth > Clifford Engs, a professor of applied health science at Indiana > University in Bloomington sees a connection. > > In her new book "Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health > Reform" (Praeger), Dr. Engs shows how Americans' fervor for > self-improvement occurs in spurts. And interest in health and > religion usually occurs at the same time. Her book traces the > nation's obsessions with food, diet and religion and describes a > country of extremists, who embrace preventive health and rigid > moral codes one generation only to rail against them the next. > > So far, Dr. Engs say, Americans have experienced three so-called > clean-living movements. Each one involved campaigns against > tobacco, alcohol and premarital sex. Dr. Engs tracks the cultural > forces that prompt each movement and those that set off each > rebellion against health, and the story is told in an appealing way > for mass audiences. But it is being marketed for scholars and is > listed at $69.50. > > In a telephone interview, Dr. Engs described her findings: "Our > country was founded in an era of ferment. We were founded in an > awakening, and we usually have them about every 80 years. They > usually start with a conservative religious awakening that goes > into health concerns, with alcohol as one thread, another thread is > fitness, and another is some aspect of sexuality. There is also a > concern about producing the perfect baby." > > The question, she added, is why the fervor fades. Sometimes, Dr. > Engs said, one generation believes healthy living will solve all > society's woes, but when problems continue, the next generation > loses faith. And eventually, new reformers start the cycle again. > > Though specifics vary, Dr. Engs shows similarities among the > movements. Health zealots through the ages have urged Americans to > exercise and avoid greasy food, meat, alcohol and tobacco. Many of > these movements, she says, are prompted more by morality than new > medical knowledge. In the 1830's, for instance, health reformers > pleaded with Americans to quit smoking not so much because it was a > health hazard but because it was considered "morally depraved." > > Whether a reader goes along with her theory, the book is chock full > of amusing anecdotes and brief biographies of those she calls > health fanatics. Mr. Falwell and Ms. Fonda continue a long American > tradition of believers, preaching their gospel of moral or physical > fitness. > > In the first "Clean Living Movement," which the author says > occurred from about 1830 to 1860, the Mormons and Seventh-day > Adventists preached salvation through healthy living. Charles > Grandison Finney, a Presbyterian preacher and lawyer-turned- > evangelist crusaded against alcohol, coffee, tea and meat. At the > same time, the American Temperance Society and the American > Anti-Tobacco Society were founded. > > These were the days of Sylvester Graham, who started "Grahamism," > which advocated hard beds, cold baths, vegetarian diets, wheat > bread and gave rise to the Graham cracker. He persuaded followers > to avoid fried foods, butter, pastries and salt pork and to drink > pure water only. > > Health advocates also condemned women's fashion of tight corsets > and long dresses. They believed the outfits damaged internal organs > and debilitated women so much that they would give birth to weak > offspring. Amelia Jenks Bloomer, a women's rights advocate, > designed a new outfit the "bloomer" suitable for outdoor exercise > and physical activity. The Fowlers Orson; his brother, Lorenzo; and > Lorenzo's wife, Dr. Lydia Folger Fowler wrote and published books > and newsletters instructing couples on how to make better babies. > They warned against marrying women with indigestion, liver > complaints, melancholia or heartburn. Those kind of folk, they > said, should not have children. Truly "superior offspring," they > added, could only be obtained when lovers engaged in a "spiritual > banquet of love." In other words, the woman had to have an orgasm. > > The First Clean Living Movement lost momentum to the Civil War. > > The second movement, from 1880 to 1920, included the founding of > the Y.M.C.A., the New Thought Movement, which encouraged believers > to replace negative thoughts with positive ones, and a new slew of > fitness fanatics. Bernarr Macfadden was the exercise guru of the > 1890's. He invented muscle- building machines, opened his own gym > in New York City and in 1899 started a popular magazine, "Physical > Culture." "Macfadden," writes Dr. Engs, "popularized exercise and > diet much the same way Sylvester Graham did in the first and > Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda in the third Clean Living > Movements." > > The third movement got a foothold in the 1960's but emerged full > force in the 70's with aerobic exercising, anti-smoking crusades > and a resurgence of religious fundmentalism, Dr. Engs writes. She > notes the recent rise of the Christian right, the fascination with > alternative medicine, the growth of the health club industry, and > new laws against smoking in public and tougher penalties for > drunken driving. She believes that, like the "clean living > movements" of the past, this one is doomed to die, too. > > Her prediction: the nation will lose interest in preventive health > by 2005. And no matter what public health messages bombard today's > children and despite an onslaught of new medical findings, health > enthusiasm, like other trends, comes and goes. In other words, > today's baby boomers may be training for triathlons but their > children will grow to prefer martinis and cigarettes. > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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