How much fat people ate during World War II

Looking at the British WWII ration, you get an interesting glimpse into how much fat people ate in the past.

The ration varied throughout the war, but each week you would usually get something like this:

• 8oz (227g) of bacon
• 1s. 2d. worth (about 8oz or 227g) of meat
• 8oz (227g) of cheese
• 8oz (227g) of butter
• 12oz (340g) of margarine
• 3 oz (85g) of lard
• 1 egg
• 5oz (140g) of powdered egg
• (plus some sources of sugar and caffeine which I haven't bothered including)

The fat in these total about 6300 calories, coming out at 900 calories from fat per day.

Consider that the Ministry of Food at the time recommended men eat 2900 calories per day and women eat 2000. This means that even in a time of relative austerity, people were eating around 30-50% of calories from fat.

Also note that there is no vegetable oil in the ration. These are all saturated fat sources, except for margarine which was given as a cheap substitute for real saturated fat.

Protein is also quite low in the above list – about 36g. It's likely people weren't even eating 100g of protein per day at this time – a very low amount compared to the recommendations of the modern protein cult.