People are fat because they're poor

[Scanner]

BTW, I have a solution for this but it would probably upset the liberalatarians among us here.

If a person is on Food Stamps, as a taxpayor, I expect that to go towards healthy food for the recipient and their dependents. I move having food "stamps" go towards a "gift card" like technology that the recipient swipes at check-out.

Only qualified purchases would get paid - so Haagan-Daaz, Chips, Bon-bons, etc. would be excluded - apples, watermelon, rice, beans, nuts, chicken, beef - that goes through.

Just an idea - needs some polish but I think it would work.

And I support mandatory drug testing - one strike rule - you are found with drugs in your system - you have one chance at paid-for rehab. Second strike - all gov't funding is pulled. This only makes common sense.

[disneysteve]

I find eating healthy FAR more expensive than eating crap.

I think some people are blending two issues. One is weight gain. The other is nutrition. They overlap but they aren't the same. Eat too many calories and eventually you'll gain weight no matter if those calories come from Twinkies or from bananas. I think you can maintain a healthy weight without spending any more than obese people spend on food by making better food and beverage choices.

[SnoopyCool]

Eating healthy is a matter of priorities. If you wish to eat healthy, you will find a way to do it, regardless of cost (grow a container/small garden for veggies, for one). I think this site is a testament to putting your mind to something and doing it (financially speaking). Therefore, in my mind, there is little argument about this other than to say you have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and figure it out. If you desire good health, you'll work for it.

[sweeps]

Scanner, many food stamp (and similar) programs limit what you can buy to the "essentials", so you can't buy junk food, beer and cigarettes.

That's a good thing obviously, but on the other hand that frees up other money for junk food, beer and cigarettes.

[Snave]

oxymoron: jumbo shrimp, adult children, dark day, firm estimate, loud silence, etc... In response to post above about what an oxymoron is.

[tmango]

, the answer to obesity is quite simple: diet and exercise.

.

shhh...this is my secret. ...
I dont get the fad diet thing..seriously.just eat right and exercise. i am going to write a book on this one day and make millions!

[sweeps]

No, they're fat because they're lazy.

Kinda harshly worded, but isn't this the default human condition? The cavemen would've been fat too if food wasn't scarce and they weren't running from mastodons all the time.

[poundwise]

Kinda harshly worded, but isn't this the default human condition? The cavemen would've been fat too if food wasn't scarce and they weren't running from mastodons all the time.

So.. we need to "Jurassic Park" us some mastodons and, viola, obesity problem solved.

[jodi]

A lot of good discussion here...just a few more points to add. No, I do not think obesity is a condition of poverty, although I do think poverty CAN contribute to it (obvoiusly, not in all cases and for all people). When I lived in a large city, on the west and east sides (the "better" sides), we had nice supermarkets. On the south and north sides (higher crime, more poverty, less households with cars), supermarkets were few and far between. If you don't have a car, it was easier to walk to the corner store or fast food place to load up. I would watch kids going into the schools with a handful of chips that they got at the corner store on their way in. As an outsider looking in, it seemed almost a way of life - their parents taught them by example and these kids didn't know any other way. No one taught them how to cook at home. When I worked at a teenage shelter, we couldn't even get the kids to eat good home-cooked food, only chicken nuggets and Steak-ums. It's a product of the environment, and who's doing anything to counter it? I don't see them building any new markets, teaching cooking in schools, etc. I don't even know where you could buy fresh fruits and veggies in some of these neighborhoods. I have always been fortunate enough to have access to transportation - but there are many who do not.

Second, a lot of unhealthy food is definitely cheaper than it's healthier counterpart. Instant white rice is cheaper than brown. White bread is at least half the price of whole wheat. White pasta is cheaper than whole wheat. Canned veggies are cheaper than fresh or even frozen, though they are packed with sodium. Even though they may be similar calorically, there are many studies showing that refined white foods can cause you to eat more over the long run (rise/dip in blood sugar, leads to more eating over time). I hope I'm explaining this correctly as I'm no expert, but I do know that after switching to whole grains and more fresh veggies, I did eat less over time because I satyed full longer and lost the cravings for sugar/carbs. So, in opting for the cheaper, less nutritious foods may actually lead to overeating, and thus, obesity, IMHO. Not to mention the impact of empty calories, higher sodium, etc.

Oh, and of course, there's the huge impact of lack of exercise, but that definitely cuts across socioeconomic lines.

[trex]

That's a whole different discussion. I'm speaking strictly about calories vs. price. My point being that for the same price, you can get a meal with fewer calories or a meal with more calories. A 300 calorie Coke is a lot worse than a zero calorie bottle of water.

Maybe you should read this:

How the feds make bad-for-you food cheaper than healthful fare | By Tom Philpott | Grist | Main Dish | 22 Feb 2006

Why do low-income people tend to exhibit more diet-related health problems? Adam Drewnowski, professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington, posits a simple answer: people are gaining weight and getting sick because unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food -- thanks in large part to federal policies...

From a short-term economic viewpoint, the Ding Dongs present a better deal: 360 calories per dollar, and no need for the time or skill to cook. "If you're on a limited income trying to feed a family, in a sense you're behaving rationally by choosing heavily sweetened and fat-laden foods," Drewnowski says.

[aida2003]

You do like to stir the pot, don't you?

As with your other threads, this one is just as ridiculous and overly broad.

That's what I thought myself. He just loves controversial topics. Sounds like the ones standing in the Hyde Park in the UK: talking and no solutions.

[disneysteve]

No one taught them how to cook at home.

I think education is a much bigger factor than people realize. As I said, I work in a very poor community. I counsel patients on diet on a daily basis. That counseling generally begins with me interviewing them about their current eating habits. You'd be amazed at some of the things people tell me.

I was speaking with one woman who told me her diet consisted largely of deep fried food. She fried almost everything. I explained that deep frying added a lot of extra fat and calories and that she should try to really cut back on frying. Her response was, "I don't know any other way to cook." And she wasn't being sarcastic. She truly had no knowledge of how to broil fish or bake a chicken breast or steam some veggies. To her, cooking meant preparing the food and dropping it in a vat of hot oil. It wasn't because she was poor. It was because she was uneducated. It doesn't cost any more to bake the chicken. In fact, it is probably cheaper since you don't need to buy oil by the gallon.

What we need is to reintroduce Home Ec class to our schools, particularly in poor neighborhoods but really in all schools. Teach kids basic cooking skills. Teach nutrition. Take field trips to a supermarket to learn how to shop.

[simpleyme]

so we are fat because we are stupid? LOL

I bet regional cooking styles might make whole areas fatter

I once went and saw a nutritionist and she was a very large women ,it seems that most of the nurse are heavy as well that I personaly encounter

[disneysteve]

so we are fat because we are stupid? LOL

No, I certainly didn't mean to say quite that either. But education is certainly a factor. If you don't know how to shop for healthy food and you don't know how to prepare healthy meals, it isn't going to happen.

[FrugalFish]

If a person is on Food Stamps, as a taxpayor, I expect that to go towards healthy food for the recipient and their dependents.

Oh Scanner, you are going to get me ranting. Where I am, there are fairly tight restrictions on what food stamps can be used for, BUT the folks on food stamps get name brand items, and a lot of them! There I am, hard working, hard budgeting, buying store brand veggies, cheese, lesser cuts of meat, etc. While I see folks on food stamps getting pretty decent cuts of meat and otherwise all name brands. It's a rare day when I actually see someone with food stamps buying produce, rice, dried beans, etc. Of course those on food stamps have a much higher grocery budget than I do, so there's not much motivation for them to tighten the belt- maybe the state is making poor people fat by giving them too much money in food stamps? Here, a family of 3 in receives just over $450 per month in food stamps; I need to pull off about $250 for a family of 3 (it may be $300 or more soon with higher grocery prices). Wow what I could do with an extra 200/month in grocery money! - I could get fat or throw a really great party every month.

There is a thread of truth to the statement about obesity and being poor. Most of it is a lack of education about nutrition. (Heck, I've been dirt poor and eaten a very healthy veggie and grain heavy diet for only about $15/ week- but that was a few years ago). However, there's another social aspect in here that someone already pointed out- poor people feel undeserving and things like fast food, or name brand snack foods make them feel a little more connected to what they perceive as the upper crust. My husband was taught this in a sociology class- they can't have the Rolex, but they can have logos that cost $5 like Doritos for example. Problem is that they are nickle and diming themselves and will never get ahead with that mentality. I remember living in a very poor neighborhood where the laundry facilities were in the garages; everyone had a box of Tide sitting next to the washer (except us). It's a tiny little status symbol. Unfortunately food is an affordable status symbol, and it's also addictive and fattening. Have I gotten off topic yet?