A Norwegian doctor with degrees in nutrition and motorics assembled a team of researchers from all across the land to determine Norwegian male health and base strength and motorics compared to Norwegian males of the 50's.
Test was relatively simple; using old and proven obstacle courses and strength exercises, he would compare it too the average man from 50 years back. Here are a couple of excerpts from his findings;
"We were rather astonished to find that the average male had gained 15 kilo's, grown 5 centimeters, and yet; his level of strength and motorics had severly declined! An average Norwegain man in the 50's would be about 1.77 centimeters of height and weigh in at approximately 72 kilo's, while the average now is 87 kilo's and 1.82 centimeters. In all out strength tests, the men of today barely managed a deadlift of 120 kilo's and a squat (deep) of a lousy 70 kilo's. Numbers from the broad and expensive research done in the fifties show us that men could pull deadlifts of in excess of 140 kilo's and squat nearly 95, despite having a smaller frame and considerably less girth. The state of western men's health is no mystery then, as weakened musculature around a joint will put more strain, and thus more potential harm on the joint itself and surrounding tendons."
The good doctor (named Varg Henriksen) was also baffled when he saw adult males (25-40) struggle to come to grips with the simplest of movements and techniques;
"In the strength test we had a very hard time instructing the subjects properly, and their ability to conform to a physical task and/or environment seemed all but gone. Even balancing on a broad girder or climbing a rope were daunting tasks for these men!"
I find this article of his (which is a lot more indepth and explanatory) very fascinating, even more so because I'm very much into wieghtlifting and general exercise. Do you know if there's been similar research done in your homeland and what the results were? He also made another discovery that may be worth mentioning;
"It seems that your general health and diet is a lot more desirable if your IQ is higher. Groups that typically displayed the highest intellect were also the ones that performed the best (in comparison to girth and frame, that is). This kills the old myth that smart people are inherently weaker and have poorer health than others. To nutrisionists globally, this won't be a shock however, as good intellect and good health coincide because of diet. Western males are literally eating their way out of shape and brains, it seems, a development that will take it's toll longterm. We expect todays adult males (25-40) to have an osteoperosis and reumatism rate of nearly 60% when they grow older (60+), and we also expect their lives to be significantly shorter, perhaps as short as those in the early 1900's. Contrary to belief, todays men are genetically more predisposed to develop a good physique and a sound intellect because of medicine and a certain amount of breeding preference. But as the number of experts on fitness increases, the will to make use of them diminishes."
Doctor Henriksen felt that the 900% increase in office workers compared to population since 1950 could be a good place to start the search for the reasons of his findings... 
