The generation game

From being bombed during childbirth to the Lycra-clad workouts of the 1980s, three generations of a family share their health and fitness experiences of the past 90 years

Ida Diprose, 89
‘Infections and diseases like scarlet fever spread like wildfire in the Welsh village where I lived because everyone was housed in cramped conditions. When I was about five I had chickenpox and had to stay indoors for what seemed like months. There was no TV or radio so I developed a love of reading. I’m still an avid bookworm today and credit this for my sharp brain.
There was no NHS until 1948, so when we were ill we had to pay to see the doctor – we didn’t have much money so this was a rarity. I do remember the GP helping me with my sight as a child as I could only see through one eye. I was told I had amblyopia (a lazy eye), and I had to wear a patch over my good eye to train the bad one to be stronger, but this didn’t work. This condition is treatable today, but because I’ve had it for so long there is nothing that can now be done. It’s something I’ve got used to.
At 22, I had my first baby, Jill, at the height of the war in 1943 – it was usual for women to give birth at home and our house was near Richmond Park in Kingston, Surrey – a frequent bomb target as this is where the army was based. I was in labour for three days and had to go through a few air raids lying in bed as I couldn’t move – but I was more terrified about the birth than bombs. A maternity nurse arrived on a bicycle to help. We had no pain relief and I remember screaming and my mother saying: ‘I’ve had five babies, be quiet!’
Exercise has never played a big part in my life although in my late teens and 20s I was a keen ballroom dancer. My husband Ray and I used to take part in competitions – it was very energetic and kept me slim. Not that there was great pressure on women to look skinny in those days – the 1940s and 1950s were all about womanly curves and size 14 was the norm.
I also had a very strenuous job as a silver service waitress. I would carry huge heavy trays with one hand and my arm and back would ache like mad, but there was no health and safety in those days. In my 60s I developed arthritis of the spine and I’m sure it’s a result of all that heavy lifting.
Now I know more about nutrition from newspapers, my diet is better than ever and I eat a lot of fresh organic food. I have osteoporosis so I keep soya milk and yogurt in the fridge to help my bones. I wish I’d known more about the benefits of exercise so I could have kept my bones stronger.
My secret to a long, healthy life is take each day as it comes and be independent for as long as I can. I still live on my own and do my ironing despite nagging from my family – but taking it easy isn’t me!’

Jill Wheatley, 67
‘When I was about 10 I had acne. Back in the 1950s and 1960s I saw doctors who were old, male and very unsympathetic. I was prescribed an awful mud-like sludge to apply to my skin, which dried it out and made the problem worse.
Health wasn’t something people knew much about – it’s only in the past few decades that the emphasis has been on prevention rather than cure. However, my father was very forward thinking about nutrition and he gave me a dose of cod liver oil every day.
I didn’t bother much with fitness until I went to America to be an au pair when I was 18 in the 1960s. The exercise craze was just starting up there and the first fitness TV celebrity Jack LaLanne was becoming a household name. I came back to the UK with a Glamour Stretcher – an early form of a resistance band – complete with his record directing the exercises. Later on, in the 1980s, exercise became trendy and everyone was doing Jane Fonda’s “Feel The Burn” workout. I used to don my leotard and go to yoga and aerobic classes.
The fashion then was big hair, big shoulders and nipped-in waists so even though I wasn’t overweight I switched to low fat food and snacked on rye crackers and cottage cheese. During my early years I ate a lot of stodgy food – my gran would make me bread dipped in fat and I loved it. Until 10 years ago I’d always cooked with lard, put salt in everything and boiled my vegetables to death, but now, thanks to the media, I’m so much more informed about food. I wish I’d known more about the dangers of the sun when I was in my teens and 20s. I used to pride myself that I could sunbathe without putting any protection on and I never burnt. Now I can see the damage on my skin as I have horrible brown marks on my face and age spots on my hands.
Another health problem I could have avoided is the bunions that developed due to my love of winkle picker shoes in the 1960s. Five years ago I had an operation to remove them, and I wonder if the six months of pain and discomfort afterwards was worth it for the sake of fashion.  Like my mother, I have osteoporosis although it’s in the early stage, so I am taking steps to protect my bones with Pilates and dance classes, and I take calcium supplements.   There used to be an attitude that “doctor knows best”. Now people are able to research conditions for themselves. When I was going through menopause my GP immediately gave me a prescription for HRT. Now I would look at options on the internet first and find out about natural alternatives.
We’ve got good genes in our family – we’re pretty healthy and look younger than we are, but I think the secret of a long life is to take time out for things that make you happy.’

Jo Day, 37
‘I wasn’t particularly healthy up until my mid 20s. Before that I had a penchant for ready meals and high fat takeaways after a night out. Then I started working for a health magazine and the information rubbed off so I began including more fresh produce in my diet and went to the gym regularly – something I’ve stuck to until this day.
I’ve pushed my liver to its limits with all the alcohol I drank in my 20s. I guess I was part of the binge drinking culture – something that my mum and gran never experienced. But on hitting my 30s, and especially since having my son, Charlie, 18 months, I stick to the recommended alcohol limits and I feel better for it – I have more energy and my skin is clearer too.
My sister Lisa, 32, and I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s on traditional meals such as roasts, casseroles and pies – there was no “foreign” food in our house. Now I love Chinese and Indian dishes, especially healthy stir-fries. I want my son to enjoy a wide variety of foods so I vary his diet. He’s already eating garlic and I don’t think I tasted that until I was in my late teens.
I am mindful about thinning bones as this runs in my family. I do a body pump class with weights once a week to help build them up and I regularly eat dairy products so I’m hoping that will help ward off the disease.
Health scares do affect me – I remember the hard-hitting AIDS campaign in the 1980s when kids in my class spread rumours that you could catch it from a toilet seat! Now we have swine flu and I’m concerned about my son who is at a vulnerable age. I also worry about skin cancer as, like mum, I was a real sunworshipper. I got badly burnt on holiday when I was 13 and my skin came out in blisters and I’ve also used sunbeds in the past. I now wear factor 15 suncream and I get my skin checked regularly for suspicious moles.
I’m lucky to live in a time when we’re so aware of our health and the things we can do to prevent illness, but this can work the other way with scary media headlines making us paranoid. I think good health does mean being vigilant about physical signs, but also being aware of your mental health, and for me that means enjoying life as much as I can.’

Words: Jo Wheatley

Photo: Gemma Day