text: i wonder how come children are not being born bowl-legged, like they used to in the 60-70's? maybe i am dating myself, but i wonder is there a change in diet or in the preservatives, that has changed our  physical appearances, now in this era. are you thinking of the dietary deficency disease called rickets?  rickets was fairly common in the usa until milk was enriched with calcium and the importance of vitamin d was discovered.    rickets would cause the bones to soften and "bow".  but by the time the babyboomers were born, american diets were much better and rickets has pretty much become a thing of the past.  here's what wikipedia has to say:  "rickets is a severe and prolonged vitamin d deficiency that leads to softening and weakening of the bones in children. vitamin d helps the body absorb calcium and phosphate, which children need to build strong bones. good sources of dietary vitamin d are vitamin d-fortified formulas and milk."  my mother who is of the "greatest generation" has rickets when she was a girl and her jaw bones didn't grow properly and she ended up with a mouthful of very crowded and crooked teeth.