What An Average Kid Ate In A Day During The 1980s

The diet of kids in the 1980s was, in some ways, similar to what kids still eat today. While there is a greater emphasis on incorporating whole foods and well-balanced meals into our diets these days, that doesn't mean there isn't still room for the occasional pack of Nerds or box of mac and cheese. In recent years, plenty of nostalgic 20th century food items have been reinvented for today's consumers.

If you grew up in the 1980s, you probably remember those funky school lunches and frozen dinners that shaped your childhood. You might also remember more diversity hitting the food scene, such as the boom in sushi's popularity throughout the United States — though that probably wasn't what you were packing in your lunch box or buying at a convenience store as a 10-year-old. Instead, here are some foods from throughout the decade that would have been popular among the youth, from breakfast to school lunch and even dessert.

You can buy Toaster Strudel today, but it became popular immediately when it debuted back in 1982. By 1985, it was available all over the United States. The flaky, jelly-filled pastry quickly became a breakfast hit among kids, who loved it not only for its flavor, but also for the icing packet it came with. Kids could easily draw designs on top of the pastry, which became known as "Strudel Doodles."

Kids loved to start the day with sugar in the 1980s, and sugary cereals were the way to go. In a Reddit thread all about 1980s cereals, everything from Golden Grahams and Count Chocula to Cap'n Crunch are mentioned. One thing these cereals all have in common? Plenty of sugar. Plus, Cinnamon Toast Crunch debuted in 1984, and quickly became one of the most popular cereals on the market.

The 1980s were known for big hair and big colors. On that latter note, Nerds was extremely popular. It first debuted in 1983 and quickly won the hearts of children everywhere for its sweet flavor and fun, ultra-tiny size. In 1985, Nerds was voted candy of the year by the National Candy Wholesale Association, solidifying its place in '80s history.

Cool Ranch is one of Doritos' best-known flavors. It was a hit from the time it debuted in 1986. These salty, savory chips dusted with a ranch-like powder are still popular in convenience stores and snack aisles today, but their massive success back in the 1980s was undeniable. Even today, '80s kids on Reddit still reminisce about the Doritos flavor's debut.

Lunchables are to the '80s what TV dinners were to the '50s. When Lunchables were introduced in 1988, they immediately made packing lunches so much easier on busy parents. Kids also loved these various "lunch" options, such as the mini pizzas and cheese and crackers.

A school cafeteria staple, there was something oddly unsettling about rectangular pizza. But, in the '80s, when healthy food wasn't at the forefront of people's minds, school lunches like this reigned supreme – and kids loved it as a tasty lunch option.

When Reddit users described nostalgic dinners of the 1980s in a Reddit thread, the canned sloppy Joe brand Manwich was a big one: "Manwich and tater tots with a (glass) bottle of Pepsi ... That was a perfect summer night way back in the early 1980s." The old-school sloppy Joe was an easy dinner for working parents throughout the decade, and the canned version is still available at grocery stores today.

Velveeta's Shells & Cheese dinner debuted sometime in the late '70s or mid-'80s, giving people an even easier macaroni and cheese dinner than parent company Kraft's other famed blue box thanks to no additional ingredients being needed. Nowadays, there are many different boxed mac and cheeses on the market, but the classic Velveeta version was hard to beat for an '80s kid.

Monkey bread was invented decades before the 1980s, but first lady Nancy Reagan's recipe from her time in the White House gave it a resurgence. This fun bread is made from dough balls coated in cinnamon, sugar, and butter, then baked in a bundt pan and pulled apart to eat. What's not to love?