Obesity and poverty...
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Obesity and apathy is more like it. One can educate one's self on how to live healthy. I work at a grocery store. One can spend $5 dollars in produce or on a box of sugar cereal; $.89 on Little Debbie pies or on apples.0
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Obesity and apathy is more like it. One can educate one's self on how to live healthy.
for the win.0 -
I have had months in my life where my monthly food budget was $17.25, American. Please outline the healthy food choices you would make to get through that month on adequate nutrition and caloric intake. Thanks.Obesity and apathy is more like it. One can educate one's self on how to live healthy. I work at a grocery store. One can spend $5 dollars in produce or on a box of sugar cereal; $.89 on Little Debbie pies or on apples.0 -
This is not a personal attack on any one person. This is an observation I have made over the last 15 years.
Sorry, I didn't quote the above post.0 -
When will people understand that processed and "unclean" foods don't cause weight gain, an excess of calories does. In 98% of the posts in this thread and on the whole forum all I see are these claims about clean eating. Living on cheap fast foods DOESN'T cause obesity, however, eating 4000 calories when you need 2000 to maintain your weight WILL.0
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I wasn't reading it as an attack. I was reading it as an observation of the facts as you understand them. I am asking, based on your understanding, how you would advise a person in a situation such as I described to eat healthy for that time period, on that budget. "Healthy" means adequate macros, micronutrients, and calories to maintain a medium frame on an adult male, neither too thin nor too heavy; I'm not talking about needing nutrition sufficient to fuel an endurance athlete.This is not a personal attack on any one person. This is an observation I have made over the last 15 years.0 -
all this is bringing me back to my preteens. mom and dad had just divorced.
we ate a lot of beans and rice, lots of canned sausages, and lots ofpotatoes in those days.
was it tasty? no. we couldnt afford bacon to season the beans. (tried canned sausage once. it dissolved)
i never went hungry though.0 -
Even the homicidal meth cook feeds his son well.0 -
When will people understand that processed and "unclean" foods don't cause weight gain, an excess of calories does. In 98% of the posts in this thread and on the whole forum all I see are these claims about clean eating. Living on cheap fast foods DOESN'T cause obesity, however, eating 4000 calories when you need 2000 to maintain your weight WILL.
Poverty = depression. You're absolutely right. But often, food is the only comfort you can afford. Which is kind of sad itself, if you think about it.0 -
If you go to the grocery and buy enough fresh, whole food to feed a family of four for a week, you'll likely spend no less than $200. Good, fresh, real food is terribly expensive. Crap food is not! A cheeseburger, fries, and coke at McDonalds cost $3. A salad at McDonalds cost $6. Fresh produce and meat is expensive compared to ramen noodles and Vienna sausages. It's next to impossible for people living in poverty to eat healthy food!
A bag of lentils is under a dollar that with a couple carrots and celery and onion is a delicious meal for cheaper than a burger and fries and waaaayyy healthier...
Yeeeeah, but try getting kids to eat it. Mine are VERY picky.
Kids will eat when it is their only option. (I have 4 kids, I understand what it's like to have a kid refuse to eat something) but I also understand that kids become picky when their taste buds are not introduced to good foods at a young age and when they are sugared up. My oldest daughter was a picky eater, so I put chicken and peas in her yogurt... she didn't notice. Their appetites come back when they do not get juice. My youngest child drinks carrot juice because that was the only juice he has been given. (he started turning orange at one point from drinking too much bt that is another topic LOL) THere is a website called "saving dinner" and she has a WHOLE thing on getting kids not to be picky. Also their palate needs to be introduced to foods even if they don't like it, if they have it on their tongue and don't swallow it, their taste buds develop ad eventually they will enjoy the flavor.0 -
Gahh.. tried to tell this to a recovering anorexic girl years ago. http://www.project-shapeshift.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=7311
my answer was this - ... THEY STILL PICK OUT CRAP! people *want* ****ty food.The truth of the matter is that my father WANTED the ****ty food, and he wanted foods we could make for ourselves or for him. We NEVER ate vegetables EVER, none of us 'liked' them, and when you ask a 7-year-old whether she wants a can of corn or a frozen pizza, what do you think she'll say? Especially when she's had the pizza as long as she can remember... (I started cooking for him at 7 years old. in hindsight, all of that sounds like child abuse) and for him at least, it had nothing to do with math or efficiency. It was more like, "This food is 'free' so let's get all the bull**** we want"... I can't tell you how many times he's spent it on stupid crap like candy - (His foodstamps come in on the 15th of the month, and Valentine's day is the 14th. So the day after, he goes and buys like 10 sacks of half priced valentine's chocolate, and a week later is calling everyone up crying that he has no food.
Really a person that never should have procreated, IMHO.0 -
Gahh.. tried to tell this to a recovering anorexic girl years ago. http://www.project-shapeshift.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=7311
my answer was this - ... THEY STILL PICK OUT CRAP! people *want* ****ty food.The truth of the matter is that my father WANTED the ****ty food, and he wanted foods we could make for ourselves or for him. We NEVER ate vegetables EVER, none of us 'liked' them, and when you ask a 7-year-old whether she wants a can of corn or a frozen pizza, what do you think she'll say? Especially when she's had the pizza as long as she can remember... (I started cooking for him at 7 years old. in hindsight, all of that sounds like child abuse) and for him at least, it had nothing to do with math or efficiency. It was more like, "This food is 'free' so let's get all the bull**** we want"... I can't tell you how many times he's spent it on stupid crap like candy - (His foodstamps come in on the 15th of the month, and Valentine's day is the 14th. So the day after, he goes and buys like 10 sacks of half priced valentine's chocolate, and a week later is calling everyone up crying that he has no food.
Really a person that never should have procreated, IMHO.
and if you try to take away my M&M's, I'll cut you!0 -
It's NOT unhealthy food that makes you fat, it's eating more than what a portion size should be and NOT getting enough/any exercise!!! Kids don't play outside anymore and I am not talking about doing sports, I'm talking good old fashion playing outside that we did as kids, riding bikes, etc.!!!!!0
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It's also that a lot of unhealthy food is calorie dense, but nutrient light, making it both harder to feel full (because there's not a lot of fiber or protein filling you up) and harder to maintain adequate nutrition, which can (note I didn't say "will") lead to overeating as people try to fulfill macro and micronutrient needs with improper tools.It's NOT unhealthy food that makes you fat, it's eating more than what a portion size should be and NOT getting enough/any exercise!!! Kids don't play outside anymore and I am not talking about doing sports, I'm talking good old fashion playing outside that we did as kids, riding bikes, etc.!!!!!0 -
I am poor! I still try to eat healthy, but what someone said is true they don't have good produce in poorer cities! Also a lack of cooking skills does make up for it.
Food stamps gives me 116 dollars to feed myself a month. I feed two people on it. It's a lot of extra hard work to eat healthy when you're poor. Busy poor people will have a harder time.0 -
Just gotta say, I've seen real poverty overseas. They don't get government help or food stamps. You rarely find obese people in poverty outside of the US.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Truth. I'm the director of a charitable surgical organization that does work abroad, obesity & poverty is definitely a US thing.
Regarding the rise in obesity in Latin America, it has more to do with American style processed food creeping into their culture. I'm from PR, been to DR, Panama, Mexico, Guetamala, and Honduras...healthiest group of those living in poverty were definitely in Guatemala where fast food grocery market culture has yet to grab on in cities like Antigua.0 -
You can't solve it.0
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It's NOT unhealthy food that makes you fat, it's eating more than what a portion size should be and NOT getting enough/any exercise!!! Kids don't play outside anymore and I am not talking about doing sports, I'm talking good old fashion playing outside that we did as kids, riding bikes, etc.!!!!!
well... unhealthy foods are usually more calorically dense, so they don't take up as much volume in your stomach, thus they don't turn off the hunger signals as quickly, so you actually are more likely to eat MORE unhealthy food, and doing so makes you fat.
but you're absolutely right about exercise0 -
I was reading through the thread about who is to blame for obese children. The unanimous consensus is that it's the parents' fault. While I agree to a certain extent, I think people are forgetting a few key pieces of info. Let's take a look at Mississippi. It's the #1 poorest state in the nation. It's also the #1 most obese state in the nation. It's also the #1 most hunger stricken state in the nation. How could that be? How can people be starving AND obese!? It doesn't make sense. Or does it?
If you go to the grocery and buy enough fresh, whole food to feed a family of four for a week, you'll likely spend no less than $200. Good, fresh, real food is terribly expensive. Crap food is not! A cheeseburger, fries, and coke at McDonalds cost $3. A salad at McDonalds cost $6. Fresh produce and meat is expensive compared to ramen noodles and Vienna sausages. It's next to impossible for people living in poverty to eat healthy food!
I don't know how to fix that, but I know that something needs to change if we're going to solve the obesity epidemic in this country!
I'm not sure where you live but you cannot get a cheeseburger, fries and a coke for $3 at our McDonald's. And even if you could... a $3 meal x 4 people x 3 meals per day x 7 days per week comes out to $252 per week....and that doesn't even touch the other junk snacks in between like the bag of chips or the cookies or the extra soda!
I spend $200 per week on ALL my groceries including cleaning products, paper products, personal hygiene products and vitamins/supplements and my kids are lean and healthy. I spend much less since I got on a cleaner diet with my family than when we ate crap all the time!0 -
This!0
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As someone who actually came from a poverty-stricken background, allow me to shed a little light on a lot of people's situation. I'm not going to give my opinion on the topic itself, just some information for other people to consider before they do. If you haven't been horribly poor you really do not have any idea of how to guess what you'd do in the situation.
1) Sometimes your family has no way to get to a grocery store often, so you shop at what's nearby, usually at convenience stores. Most convenience stores do not sell fruits and vegetables, only non-perishable items. Sometimes the nearest grocery store sucks, and you can't afford any better.
1.5) When you have little money, you want your food to feed many mouths and/or last a long time. With most perishables being at a week or so, the incentive to buy is very low.
2) Sometimes there is literally no yard or even a patio/balcony. You are apartment 15F in a 20-story building full of people just like you. No one is doing any gardening.
2.5) No grocery store owner in is right mind wants to open a grocery store in your neighborhood because he doesn't want to be robbed, or have people steal his merchandise.
3) Your live with your mother who works 2 jobs.
4) Your dad pays no child support and doesn't pick you up to have dinner or go to the park for a run.
5) When your mom wants to make you smile, she buys you candy and "treats". The neighbors give you candy and treats, too, because you and your friends are good kids, and candy is cheap.
6) You're not taught nutrition in school. You go to a school that sucks because it gets almost no funding because the students do poorly on their tests, and your teacher spends half the day disciplining other students. He or she spends one third of the school year preparing you for standardized tests that most students will fail.
6.5) Schools themselves are serving students things that are not healthful. Pizza (recently deemed a vegetable in the US, by the way) tater tots, and brown meat served with instant potatoes isn't setting the best example.
7) People in poverty usually have very little education. Don't assume they should know they need to eat healthier.
8) They are raised to keep hunger away (just as our public school food system continues to model), not to be nutritionally balanced. Think of comfort foods, and remember why they bring comfort. They're filling and swimming in salt and butter or grease, and they make you feel good.
9) Your brain associates hunger with stress. Your mom can't afford to buy a better car, a couch that has all 4 legs and no rips in it, a coffee maker to replace her old one, but she will be damned if she can't feed you and you have to feel what she felt when she was a hungry little kid living just like you do now.
Thank you for bringing some humanity into this thread.0 -
Gahh.. tried to tell this to a recovering anorexic girl years ago. http://www.project-shapeshift.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=7311
my answer was this - ... THEY STILL PICK OUT CRAP! people *want* ****ty food.The truth of the matter is that my father WANTED the ****ty food, and he wanted foods we could make for ourselves or for him. We NEVER ate vegetables EVER, none of us 'liked' them, and when you ask a 7-year-old whether she wants a can of corn or a frozen pizza, what do you think she'll say? Especially when she's had the pizza as long as she can remember... (I started cooking for him at 7 years old. in hindsight, all of that sounds like child abuse) and for him at least, it had nothing to do with math or efficiency. It was more like, "This food is 'free' so let's get all the bull**** we want"... I can't tell you how many times he's spent it on stupid crap like candy - (His foodstamps come in on the 15th of the month, and Valentine's day is the 14th. So the day after, he goes and buys like 10 sacks of half priced valentine's chocolate, and a week later is calling everyone up crying that he has no food.
Really a person that never should have procreated, IMHO.
and if you try to take away my M&M's, I'll cut you!
lollzz, I'll buy you your M&Ms! Silly! I'm trying to sleep now, remember?0 -
I feed my family of 5 good stuff: home made meals, organic fruits/veggies (lots of em), free range, organic eggs (my Mama gives them to me, thankfully
) and lean cuts of meats. I pack all three of my children's lunches daily AND I feed my dogs (yes, they are included in my grocery budget) a no grain dogfood ~ for LESS than $125 a week.
It can be done. It IS done!0 -
I feed my family of 5 good stuff: home made meals, organic fruits/veggies (lots of em), free range, organic eggs (my Mama gives them to me, thankfully) and lean cuts of meats. I pack all three of my children's lunches daily AND I feed my dogs (yes, they are included in my grocery budget) a no grain dogfood ~ for LESS than $125 a week.
It can be done. It IS done!
You do understand this thread is talking about people who are living in POVERTY right? I mean ^^^^this is NOT poverty level in the least so I dont see your point.0 -
I was reading through the thread about who is to blame for obese children. The unanimous consensus is that it's the parents' fault. While I agree to a certain extent, I think people are forgetting a few key pieces of info. Let's take a look at Mississippi. It's the #1 poorest state in the nation. It's also the #1 most obese state in the nation. It's also the #1 most hunger stricken state in the nation. How could that be? How can people be starving AND obese!? It doesn't make sense. Or does it?
If you go to the grocery and buy enough fresh, whole food to feed a family of four for a week, you'll likely spend no less than $200. Good, fresh, real food is terribly expensive. Crap food is not! A cheeseburger, fries, and coke at McDonalds cost $3. A salad at McDonalds cost $6. Fresh produce and meat is expensive compared to ramen noodles and Vienna sausages. It's next to impossible for people living in poverty to eat healthy food!
I don't know how to fix that, but I know that something needs to change if we're going to solve the obesity epidemic in this country!
I'm not sure where you live but you cannot get a cheeseburger, fries and a coke for $3 at our McDonald's. And even if you could... a $3 meal x 4 people x 3 meals per day x 7 days per week comes out to $252 per week....and that doesn't even touch the other junk snacks in between like the bag of chips or the cookies or the extra soda!
I spend $200 per week on ALL my groceries including cleaning products, paper products, personal hygiene products and vitamins/supplements and my kids are lean and healthy. I spend much less since I got on a cleaner diet with my family than when we ate crap all the time!
Do you really think those living in true poverty eat 3 meals a day, 7 days a week?0 -
As I said before: $17.25 a month for food, for one adult male. Valid strategies to eat exclusively healthy foods, that don't include Food Banks or charity from friends, are welcome.I feed my family of 5 good stuff: home made meals, organic fruits/veggies (lots of em), free range, organic eggs (my Mama gives them to me, thankfully) and lean cuts of meats. I pack all three of my children's lunches daily AND I feed my dogs (yes, they are included in my grocery budget) a no grain dogfood ~ for LESS than $125 a week.
It can be done. It IS done!
Incidentally, "less than $125" is what I have regularly spent for a month at times past.0 -
This entire thread is a microcosm of whats wrong with the U.S. You have a bunch of people who have never had to want for anything in their lives trying to debate why poor people are fat. Listen to the people who have posted in this thread who ACTUALLY GREW UP POOR, we aren't making excuses because we know what its like. It is a choice. This is just another example of people who don't know what they are talking about enabling people who make poor decisions. I know, I lived it. Someone posted earlier that this thread made them feel sorry for humanity. Yeah, me too. People have to be responsible for their own actions. Stop making excuses for them.
I love how you KNOW who and who hasn't had to want for anything in their lives based on their decision to advertise it in their post. You're making assumptions that are incorrect. Even if they haven't ever had to, it doesn't mean they don't have friends or family or some type of experience with people in that situation that has given them knowledge on it. Which really doesn't matter because people are free to discuss whatever it is they so choose. I have opinions on space travel, but I've never been an astronaut. Am I therefore not allowed to voice said opinion?
You can have an opinion and discuss whatever you want. Whether you are completely ignorant of the subject or not. It just fascinates me.0 -
As I said before: $17.25 a month for food, for one adult male. Valid strategies to eat exclusively healthy foods, that don't include Food Banks or charity from friends, are welcome.I feed my family of 5 good stuff: home made meals, organic fruits/veggies (lots of em), free range, organic eggs (my Mama gives them to me, thankfully) and lean cuts of meats. I pack all three of my children's lunches daily AND I feed my dogs (yes, they are included in my grocery budget) a no grain dogfood ~ for LESS than $125 a week.
It can be done. It IS done!
Incidentally, "less than $125" is what I have regularly spent for a month at times past.
I have been waiting for someone to answer your question. I am curious about this too as last year my husband and I sometimes had 20 to 30 left a month to feed us both and that was a good month. A lot of times we got boxed foods from family and friends so we could eat because we had 0 money for food. I would like to know how others would stretch that.0 -
I was reading through the thread about who is to blame for obese children. The unanimous consensus is that it's the parents' fault. While I agree to a certain extent, I think people are forgetting a few key pieces of info. Let's take a look at Mississippi. It's the #1 poorest state in the nation. It's also the #1 most obese state in the nation. It's also the #1 most hunger stricken state in the nation. How could that be? How can people be starving AND obese!? It doesn't make sense. Or does it?
If you go to the grocery and buy enough fresh, whole food to feed a family of four for a week, you'll likely spend no less than $200. Good, fresh, real food is terribly expensive. Crap food is not! A cheeseburger, fries, and coke at McDonalds cost $3. A salad at McDonalds cost $6. Fresh produce and meat is expensive compared to ramen noodles and Vienna sausages. It's next to impossible for people living in poverty to eat healthy food!
I don't know how to fix that, but I know that something needs to change if we're going to solve the obesity epidemic in this country!
I'm not sure where you live but you cannot get a cheeseburger, fries and a coke for $3 at our McDonald's. And even if you could... a $3 meal x 4 people x 3 meals per day x 7 days per week comes out to $252 per week....and that doesn't even touch the other junk snacks in between like the bag of chips or the cookies or the extra soda!
I spend $200 per week on ALL my groceries including cleaning products, paper products, personal hygiene products and vitamins/supplements and my kids are lean and healthy. I spend much less since I got on a cleaner diet with my family than when we ate crap all the time!
Most families below the poverty have less than $300 to spend on food A MONTH. I have heard of people screwing over the system and getting way more than that, but they are the minority. The rest of us scrabble from month to month, when food prices go up, our amounts don't. You're not being realistic. You spend less than you did. But you probably also have a nice house, a good car, and a decent supermarket nearby. You're comparing apples and oranges.0 -
As a parent who once had to live on assistance, I know that living healthy and eating healthy is fairly easy to do. It takes careful planning of your meals and being willing to not shop when you are hungry, stressed or both. I also experience as a Walmart cashier the anger in myself when I see my customers buying crap i.e. cakes, cookies, hotdogs, tv dinners, and other foods of convience. My point is yes eating healthy can be done. I have done it with my own family. To this day my daughter still prefers a salad over french fries and chicken nuggets. I lived on aid for 10 years.0
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