It was a child-friendly world because adults put us first. They gave their time to discipline, teach, mentor, and even play with us. We were special to them, and it showed.
None of the junk and drivel kids get nowadays can replace a memory of making cookies with my mom or going fishing or duck hunting with my dad, of working on my grandfather's and great uncle's farms, and they all (and many more friends and relatives) spent time on us as kids, keeping us in line, teaching us how to do things--and how not to. Their watchful eyes were ever on us, and if we stepped out of line, we were often disciplined on the spot, and again when we got home.
It was one of the advantages of everyone knowing everyone else in an area, and it discouraged the predators as well.
Oh yeah, despite our far ranging activity (and there was plenty of it) we had our ‘fat kids’ too. Most slimmed up in puberty after they got a job doing construction or farm work.