Are the poor fat?
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It's a skills, education and means problem as opposed to a "they just don't want it bad enough bro" problem.
While I do think this is true, I also firmly believe if someone wants something badly enough, they can make it happen.
Anyone can bus, bike or walk to a grocery store, buy produce on sale and bulk food or use coupons and freeze/bottle surplus. A lack of education isn't a very good excuse, either. Public libraries are free, and have computers with internet access. I have paid exactly $0 on the education I have on fitness and nutrition. It was all gleaned off the internet, at free sites like exrx.net, bodybuilding.com, and here, MFP.
I'm not disputing that there are people who are genuinely disadvantaged economically and socially when it comes to taking care of themselves, but there are ways around it. IF you want it bad enough.0 -
I was raised in a third world country where 99% of the population was dirt poor. I was skinny and I learned not to obsess over food.
I came to the US and was shocked at how much people ate here. I couldn't even down my first hamburger without feeling uncomfortably full for hours.
I've never had an issue with weight because I could control my appetite, but the obesity problem becomes apparent when I hang out with co-workers and friends. They can't go for more than a few hours without munching on something, from watery soups to crackers. The saddest thing of all is that they spend all this money on food to fuel their incessant eating and all that money does is make them even less healthy.
You know what the best way to save money on food is? Not to eat all the freaking time. Skipping a meal is just as healthy as the healthiest of meals if you are overweight, and it's heck of a lot cheaper. I don't spend much on food and I eat two meals a day, yet I'm in better shape than 99% of the people I come across, who probably spend a lot more money on food than I do.0 -
Does this mean that all the folks competing at the Olympics who don't win Gold - and all the aspiring Olympic athletes who didn't qualify - merely 'didn't want it badly enough?' That seems unlikely, from my POV.It's a skills, education and means problem as opposed to a "they just don't want it bad enough bro" problem.
While I do think this is true, I also firmly believe if someone wants something badly enough, they can make it happen.0 -
I've gone through moments, especially as a single mom, when money was so tight I had to get creative. It's not hard to spend $20 on enough food to get you through pay day, especially when you buy store-brand.
Whole wheat bread 99¢
Peanut butter $2
Brown rice in a bag 99¢
Banana 89¢ a bundle
Beans 99¢
Block of cheese $2
2 cans tuna $1
4 bag of frozen veggies $4
Bag of frozen boneless chicken breast $7
$20 grocery list.
ETA: I never see people on food stamps buy healthy food and the program doesn't really give them any reason to.. Indiana just reduced food stamps a bit and people were outraged... people who get between $400 and $700 a month in food stamps. HOW THE HELL do you spend that much on food a month? Even my family of 3, with big appetites, spends about $250 a MONTH on food and we budget loosely. For people who get WIC, it's not hard for them to follow a list of approved items such as bread, milk, beans and cheese.. Why can't the food stamps program ALSO have a list of approved items? Things like $6-7 frozen DiGiorno pizzas don't belong in a cart of someone on assistance when they are buying 5 at a time. That's money that could be well spent on many other meals.0 -
Education, specifically health & wellness, is an elite form of knowledge. If you & your parents & their parents could never afford to own a computer & surf the internet or visit a nutritionist or train with a personal trainer or buy a cookbook or a work-out video - if these were all considered LUXURIES by your community who was exposed to a mass media frenzy touting fast food & soda & alcohol then you would most likely be unhealthy & overweight as well.
Please explain then why obesity rates are higher than ever before, despite access to the internet in modern times. Am not buying the food desert excuse. Am not from America but have seen documentaries on TV. Las Vegas and Los Angeles are examples of built up cities where this does not apply and obesity rates are well above average.
Its because the cost of living is rising in all areas and peoples incomes aren't - eating cheaper means eating high dense calories with very little nutritional value - its obvious!
As the stuff we don't need gets relativewly cheaper - i.e. Gadgets, Soda, Television Sets, Cars, and a whole ****load of junk which fills us up but gives us nothing but fat in return
, the stuff we do need rises - like housing, education, healthcare, clean water, and good nutrition#
We are basically guilty of pawning our bodies, health and wellbeing at the cash converters in exchange for a cheeseburger and a can of coke!
>>>>CONSUMERISM
WTF?
Are you suggesting that making purchases in the market is somehow the cause of inflation?0 -
Wow......I need to shop where you do. I haven't seen those prices in decades.I've gone through moments, especially as a single mom, when money was so tight I had to get creative. It's not hard to spend $20 on enough food to get you through pay day, especially when you buy store-brand.
Whole wheat bread 99¢
Peanut butter $2
Brown rice in a bag 99¢
Banana 89¢ a bundle
Beans 99¢
Block of cheese $2
2 cans tuna $1
4 bag of frozen veggies $4
Bag of frozen boneless chicken breast $7
$20 grocery list.0 -
Wow......I need to shop where you do. I haven't seen those prices in decades.I've gone through moments, especially as a single mom, when money was so tight I had to get creative. It's not hard to spend $20 on enough food to get you through pay day, especially when you buy store-brand.
Whole wheat bread 99¢
Peanut butter $2
Brown rice in a bag 99¢
Banana 89¢ a bundle
Beans 99¢
Block of cheese $2
2 cans tuna $1
4 bag of frozen veggies $4
Bag of frozen boneless chicken breast $7
$20 grocery list.
Those are typical prices of the Kroger brand things we buy at our grocery store. Target is about the same on those items. Bags of frozen veggies are $1 each, so is a loaf of market pantry bread.
Obviously if you live in Hawaii or NYC, things are much more expensive but I would probably make twice as much for the job I have now if I lived/work in a big city also.0 -
Wow, maybe you should go to a Wal-Mart or even an Aldi (ghasp).
Wow......I need to shop where you do. I haven't seen those prices in decades.I've gone through moments, especially as a single mom, when money was so tight I had to get creative. It's not hard to spend $20 on enough food to get you through pay day, especially when you buy store-brand.
Whole wheat bread 99¢
Peanut butter $2
Brown rice in a bag 99¢
Banana 89¢ a bundle
Beans 99¢
Block of cheese $2
2 cans tuna $1
4 bag of frozen veggies $4
Bag of frozen boneless chicken breast $7
$20 grocery list.0 -
Wow......I need to shop where you do. I haven't seen those prices in decades.I've gone through moments, especially as a single mom, when money was so tight I had to get creative. It's not hard to spend $20 on enough food to get you through pay day, especially when you buy store-brand.
Whole wheat bread 99¢
Peanut butter $2
Brown rice in a bag 99¢
Banana 89¢ a bundle
Beans 99¢
Block of cheese $2
2 cans tuna $1
4 bag of frozen veggies $4
Bag of frozen boneless chicken breast $7
$20 grocery list.
Those are typical prices of the Kroger brand things we buy at our grocery store. Target is about the same on those items. Bags of frozen veggies are $1 each, so is a loaf of market pantry bread.
Obviously if you live in Hawaii or NYC, things are much more expensive but I would probably make twice as much for the job I have now if I lived/work in a big city also.
Those are the same prices as we have at Hyvee or Sav-A-Lot, Target, Walmart, etc. I shop for the "loss leaders" at various stores, so often buy things even cheaper than this.0 -
Education, specifically health & wellness, is an elite form of knowledge. If you & your parents & their parents could never afford to own a computer & surf the internet or visit a nutritionist or train with a personal trainer or buy a cookbook or a work-out video - if these were all considered LUXURIES by your community who was exposed to a mass media frenzy touting fast food & soda & alcohol then you would most likely be unhealthy & overweight as well.
Please explain then why obesity rates are higher than ever before, despite access to the internet in modern times. Am not buying the food desert excuse. Am not from America but have seen documentaries on TV. Las Vegas and Los Angeles are examples of built up cities where this does not apply and obesity rates are well above average.
Its because the cost of living is rising in all areas and peoples incomes aren't - eating cheaper means eating high dense calories with very little nutritional value - its obvious!
As the stuff we don't need gets relativewly cheaper - i.e. Gadgets, Soda, Television Sets, Cars, and a whole ****load of junk which fills us up but gives us nothing but fat in return
, the stuff we do need rises - like housing, education, healthcare, clean water, and good nutrition#
We are basically guilty of pawning our bodies, health and wellbeing at the cash converters in exchange for a cheeseburger and a can of coke!
This is nonsense. Massive portion sizes are what contribute to obesity above anything else, not food with low nutritional value per se. A chicken salad is not more expensive than than a Big Mac with an extra large fries, a supersize mikshake and a donut for dessert. A simple comparison yes but the same analogy applies to many people's diets - this is what is obvious. Blaming high prices for non-healthy food is just ignorant and one of the tired old excuses.0 -
In the UK, the last socialist government decided to brand "poverty" as meaning having an income less than 40% of the median income for the country as a whole.
This means we have two effects:
1. Downwards pressure on median income, and
2. Benefits being targetted in small chunks at those a few quid below the "poverty line" so that polticians can claim to be "lifting children out of poverty".
The whole thing is a nonsense.
Although I really don't like them, celebrity chefs (notably Jamie Oliver and Delia Smith) have spent some considerable effort showing people how to construct nutritious meals for a family of 4 for less than a tenner, or £5 in some instances. It's quite eye opening to be able to do that.
The education is there. But unfortunately, so is Iceland.0 -
There is a big difference between living in poverty (at a low socioeconomic status on the American scale) and being poor. There are many people who can't afford to have cable television, or a television, for that matter. There are many people who work minimum wage job many back-breaking hours to barely (or not) pay the bills they have.
The problem with judging those people solely by their weight is this: some of them receive food assistance in the fom of EBT or food stamps. That program gives a large amount of money based on what it estimates the family needs to buy healthy fresh food for itself, but then it does not educate the family on how to shop or cook said healthy fresh food.
And when you are poor, and cannot afford to reward yourself with high-dollar items like TVs or nice clothes, you reward yourself with some tasty food when you can. It's a broken system, where the only answer is education.
Yes you can blame lack of education but when you are gorging on pizzas, burgers, ice cream and the lot every day and your weight is ballooning, does it really require education to notice where one is going wrong. This is fundamentally ignored.0 -
The cost of food is messed up.. (UK)
Pack of 4 medium fresh chicken breasts = £5.99
Pack of 4 frozen breaded processed chicken "breasts" - £1.20
Bag of potatoes = £1.99
Bag of frozen chips (fries) = £0.78
Pack of 6 apples = £1.49
Pack of Grapes = £1.99
Pack of 6 crisps (potato chips) = £0.45
Pack of chocolate biscuits = £0.29
500g Block of "cheap" full fat cheddar = £2.99
500g Block of half fat/lower fat cheddar - £4.99
Im not saying its right to feed your family the rubbish option.. but for some of us on a very tight budget it is hard to justify spending 3 or 4 times more on the healthier option.
That being said.. since my daughter was born i always make sure that she is fed correctly, i'm not saying she doesn't occasionally have fish fingers or chicken nuggets, but she has plenty of fresh fruit and veg and home cooked meals.0 -
I just came across this post on a thread, "Why is eating healthy so darn expensive?"
"This is why poor people are usually the fat ones. Takes discipline to cut down on unimportant living expenses and buy healthy food, which is much more expensive (MUCH, MUCH MORE - if the farmers weren't subsidized) to grow, produce. Also, the cost if you are determined to eat healthy (and exercise) is a very good reason to grow your own. Even if you only have a patio, I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., in pots on my sundeck."
I agree in a lot of ways.
Thoughts?
How is someone supposed to "cut down on unimportant living expenses" when they do not have the resources, or enough resources to begin with?? You can't take away what is not there. Those who make statements such as in the quote above have no clue to the realities of the less fortunate.0 -
Education, specifically health & wellness, is an elite form of knowledge. If you & your parents & their parents could never afford to own a computer & surf the internet or visit a nutritionist or train with a personal trainer or buy a cookbook or a work-out video - if these were all considered LUXURIES by your community who was exposed to a mass media frenzy touting fast food & soda & alcohol then you would most likely be unhealthy & overweight as well.
Please explain then why obesity rates are higher than ever before, despite access to the internet in modern times. Am not buying the food desert excuse. Am not from America but have seen documentaries on TV. Las Vegas and Los Angeles are examples of built up cities where this does not apply and obesity rates are well above average.
Oh, you've watched it on television? The boob tube? Then you must be well informed & have an accurate understanding of the socio-economic dynamic of many New Yorkers' nutrition.
PLEASE open your mind up to the possibility that a person's environment (physical & social) greatly influences their lifestyle, yes - even yours.
Once you've done so take a few deep breaths & go ahead & revisit my complete original post; you'll find answers there.
Haha. You're funny. The boob tube?
But.... despite the fact you think you know a lot more than me.. you must know a lot more than the Americans who open up on TV about the problems that happen with obesity. Doctors, dietary experts, school officials and governors, and of course the morbidly obese people themselves. Not one of them that I have seen have blamed prices of food and economics as the excuse.
What they blame is people's fundamental lifestyle of comfortable living: -
- going to pick a high calorie meal from a drive through because the people think it is cheaper and quicker to do so than cook at home (more like they are too lazy to discover otherwise)
- the fact that supermarkets, restaurants and other food outlets serve up massive portions, ridiculous, unnecessary portions personified by eating challenges that incentivise the fair few to eat abnormally-sized portions in the hope of winning a t-shirt; chefs who have investigated schools
- the fact that children only recognise a tomato in ketchup form (because the adults are too ignorant to realise that pizza for breakfast served up with a large chocolate milkshake is harming kids)
- doctors in Las Vegas are recording record business for bespoke bariatric surgery because again... portion sizes in eateries are crazy.
Not one of them mention lack of access to healthy food. Your theory does not support the fact that 1 in 3 people in your country are obese. Besides, who are you to say that the (probably small) section of people who dont have access to healthy food would voluntarily pick a healthy diet over their favourite daily burger anyway?0 -
The cost of food is messed up.. (UK)
Pack of 4 medium fresh chicken breasts = £5.99
Pack of 4 frozen breaded processed chicken "breasts" - £1.20
Not true (price of fresh, i bought 4 for £3 on Saturday) and so what if the processed is cheaper. Eat it in moderation and it's fine.Bag of potatoes = £1.99
Bag of frozen chips (fries) = £0.78
Bag of 5kg potatoes £2.50
Bag of 1.5-2kg fries £1-1.50
So yes, the healthier option is cheaper
Your point is? Fruit is naturally more expensive to produce and it is again about lifestyle choices. "Eat 7 packs of cheapo biccies for the same price as grapes". That's the consumer's fault. Grapes are hardly unaffordable.Pack of 6 apples = £1.49
Pack of Grapes = £1.99
Pack of 6 crisps (potato chips) = £0.45
Pack of chocolate biscuits = £0.29500g Block of "cheap" full fat cheddar = £2.99
500g Block of half fat/lower fat cheddar - £4.99
Where did you get this from?Im not saying its right to feed your family the rubbish option.. but for some of us on a very tight budget it is hard to justify spending 3 or 4 times more on the healthier option.
We can also make other comparisons which are designed to be biased. A salad at McDonalds is a lot cheaper than a Double Whopper meal at Burger King. So what does that prove?0 -
The cost of food is messed up.. (UK)
Pack of 4 medium fresh chicken breasts = £5.99
Pack of 4 frozen breaded processed chicken "breasts" - £1.20
Not true (price of fresh, i bought 4 for £3 on Saturday) and so what if the processed is cheaper. Eat it in moderation and it's fine.Bag of potatoes = £1.99
Bag of frozen chips (fries) = £0.78
Bag of 5kg potatoes £2.50
Bag of 1.5-2kg fries £1-1.50
So yes, the healthier option is cheaper
Your point is? Fruit is naturally more expensive to produce and it is again about lifestyle choices. "Eat 7 packs of cheapo biccies for the same price as grapes". That's the consumer's fault. Grapes are hardly unaffordable.Pack of 6 apples = £1.49
Pack of Grapes = £1.99
Pack of 6 crisps (potato chips) = £0.45
Pack of chocolate biscuits = £0.29500g Block of "cheap" full fat cheddar = £2.99
500g Block of half fat/lower fat cheddar - £4.99
Where did you get this from?Im not saying its right to feed your family the rubbish option.. but for some of us on a very tight budget it is hard to justify spending 3 or 4 times more on the healthier option.
We can also make other comparisons which are designed to be biased. A salad at McDonalds is a lot cheaper than a Double Whopper meal at Burger King. So what does that prove?
lol.. and you are so annoyed about my post because?
I was just pointing out that it is a bit backwards that it costs less to feed your family rubbish. The supermarkets have a far higher percentage of unhealthy food than healthy options.
I think they should get rid of the option to buy cheap nasty food with no nutritional value, if the option wasn't there then the price of normal food wouldn't seem so high.
A pack of grapes being £1.99 only seems high in comparison to being able to buy a multipack of crisps for under a £1.
Im glad you can buy a pack of 4 chicken breasts for £3, where from because i will go and stock up? I was in Morrisons yesterday and certainly couldn't buy a pack of 4 breasts for £3.
And just to clear it up.. i don't blame being obese on the price of food.. that is purely down to food choices. My problem is the sheer volume of cheap rubbish that is on offer all over the supermarkets.0 -
The cost of food is messed up.. (UK)
Pack of 4 medium fresh chicken breasts = £5.99
Pack of 4 frozen breaded processed chicken "breasts" - £1.20
Not true (price of fresh, i bought 4 for £3 on Saturday) and so what if the processed is cheaper. Eat it in moderation and it's fine.Bag of potatoes = £1.99
Bag of frozen chips (fries) = £0.78
Bag of 5kg potatoes £2.50
Bag of 1.5-2kg fries £1-1.50
So yes, the healthier option is cheaper
Your point is? Fruit is naturally more expensive to produce and it is again about lifestyle choices. "Eat 7 packs of cheapo biccies for the same price as grapes". That's the consumer's fault. Grapes are hardly unaffordable.Pack of 6 apples = £1.49
Pack of Grapes = £1.99
Pack of 6 crisps (potato chips) = £0.45
Pack of chocolate biscuits = £0.29500g Block of "cheap" full fat cheddar = £2.99
500g Block of half fat/lower fat cheddar - £4.99
Where did you get this from?Im not saying its right to feed your family the rubbish option.. but for some of us on a very tight budget it is hard to justify spending 3 or 4 times more on the healthier option.
We can also make other comparisons which are designed to be biased. A salad at McDonalds is a lot cheaper than a Double Whopper meal at Burger King. So what does that prove?
lol.. and you are so annoyed about my post because?
I was just pointing out that it is a bit backwards that it costs less to feed your family rubbish. The supermarkets have a far higher percentage of unhealthy food than healthy options.
I think they should get rid of the option to buy cheap nasty food with no nutritional value, if the option wasn't there then the price of normal food wouldn't seem so high.
A pack of grapes being £1.99 only seems high in comparison to being able to buy a multipack of crisps for under a £1.
Im glad you can buy a pack of 4 chicken breasts for £3, where from because i will go and stock up? I was in Morrisons yesterday and certainly couldn't buy a pack of 4 breasts for £3.
And just to clear it up.. i don't blame being obese on the price of food.. that is purely down to food choices. My problem is the sheer volume of cheap rubbish that is on offer all over the supermarkets.
Who said I was annoyed? :-)
"The cost of food is messed up.. (UK) "
I just argued that you made some unfair comparisons, and in context of the debate, the supermarkets sell cheap stuff but the myth being busted here is that eating healthy is particularly expensive which is to blame for obesity.0 -
I have to say that being poor does not = unhealthy eating. And i don't think anyone can ever say they are overweight because they are poor.
I managed to loose weight just by cutting portion sizes of unhealthy frozen food - saving me more money! lol
I think the key to eating healthy on a budget is being resourceful..
I currently buy a whole chicken (for around £5).. and do 3 evening meals with it. (normally in the past i would have eaten way more than i needed and just chucked the rest)
I go to the market to get fruit and veg, or look around in the evenings in the reduced section - failing that i buy frozen berries and veg!0 -
Seems to me the wrong question, should it not be "Are the fat poor?"
Eating healthy may be expensive but so can eating unhealthily, bottles of Cola and Take aways I see many obese people wasting money on such rubbish, they are certainly not eating rubbish because of budget its either because of choice or ignorance!0
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