Are the poor fat?

People who are truly poor tend to come from a background of poverty. They have less education, are less receptive to public health messages and many of them do not know how to cook with basic ingredients. If you show a poor person how to cook good healthy meals they will often continue to feed their families the same crap, because they know that at least their kids eat the yummy unhealthy stuff whereas if they burn the vegetables or mess up the pasta their kids aren't going to eat that night. For people who have to make every dollar stretch it is scary to think of the thought that their families won't eat or like the food they make, then they'll go hungry.

At all levels of poverty these issues are prevalent, but particularly for the very poor. However many middle-class people also don't have the right tools to cook healthy meals, they get confused by health messages slapped on foods by advertising companies, and then we have a population that gains weight and has no idea why.

Of course there are many very poor people who do have this knowledge and successfully manage to feed their families relatively healthy meals on bugger all money, but it makes it much harder. God knows how many times I've burned dinner and known that I can just pull more ingredients out of the cupboard to start something new. That's a luxury some people don't have.

I hear people complain about the price of fruit n veg but do u ever hear anyone complain about the cost of junk food? In my "poorer days" there were times where all we had was a loaf of bread and homemade soup I would make for me and my family but it was nutritious and that with fruit was all that was needed. The so-called "unhealthy carbs" in the form of scones or whatever else i could bake with such little ingredients also helped in feeding my kids but hey it's a hell of a lot better than going hungry or consuming large amounts of junk food in the form of say lollies!

I live in Baltimore City (in Maryland) and can absolutely testify to the fact that "food deserts" exist. It is a severe problem in particular for the residents of this area. I, myself, can only reach the grocery store with a car - and many of our poorest residents here do not have access to anything but public transportation.

From the Baltimore City website:

Food Desert Map Key Demographic Findings (2012):
•1 in 5 Baltimore City residents live in food deserts. (Approximately 125,000 -or- 20%)
•Nearly 1 in 4 of Baltimore’s school aged children (0-17) live in a food desert. (approximately 31,000 -or- 23% of Baltimore’s population)
•1 in 4 of Baltimore’s African American population lives in a food desert. (approximately 105,000 -or- 26% of Baltimore’s population)
•In a food desert, 1 in 4 households receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, twice the percentage of non-food desert households. (13,000 households or 24.5%)
•1 in 3 of Baltimore’s neighborhoods (36%) are located within a food desert. (100 out of 278)

Food deserts are defined as:
An area where the distance to a supermarket is more than ¼ mile, the median household income is at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level, over 40% of households have no vehicle available, and the average Healthy Food Availability Index score for supermarkets, convenience and corner stores is low (measured using the Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey).

http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/AgenciesDepartments/Planning/BaltimoreFoodPolicyInitiative/FoodDeserts.aspx

Thirty-six percent of a major city's neighborhoods are in a food desert???? I'd say that's a VERY serious issue.

No, there's no excuse for being fat/obese/whatever, but with statistics like this, I wouldn't be so quick to put ALL the blame on these people.

ETA: More information added.

I agree.

The country where I live in is a third world country, and national foods are cheaper, more accessible (you'll find them anywhere), and extremely unhealthy (lots of fatty oils, white rice, fried stuff, few whole foods like vegetables or fruits because they are ultra expensive). They are ultra high in calories and do not provide significant nutritional value. 40% of the population is considered to be poor and survive off less than $1 per day, they can only afford the cheapest there is. And if you take a look at them, you'll notice that most of them are overweight and some are even obese. It's a serious issue.

because of course the poor are a homogenous group and every poor person is the same as every other poor person.....

there are over 7 billion people in the world, spanning several continents and hundreds of countries.... a poor person in Burkina Faso has very little in common with a poor person in London.....

yep, I'm sure some people get fat because they're poor and it's hard to get healthy foods where they live so they eat too much very cheap foods that lack nutritional balance, because they can't get enough of better quality foods. Just as there are huge numbers of people who are underweight because they're poor and can't get enough of any kind of food. And there are huge numbers of poor people who get a very healthy diet because they can only eat locally produced fresh food, but miss out on other things, e.g. an education, because of their living situation.

So really, it's a question that is impossible to answer with anything other than "It depends...."

The poor in American eat better than most thanks to Obama..

If you are willing to cook your own food from scratch, eating healthy is NOT more expensive than unhealthy.

I can prepare an extremely healthy meal at home for less than $2-3 per person in a family of 4.

However, if you want to buy pre-made foods, whole plates of just cooked food (eating out), etc., then it is a LOT more expensive.

So... people are to blame for their own weight, whether rich or poor. It's a choice.

But poor people can't just buy their way into healthy eating the way rich people CAN, but only sometimes DO.

Your definition of "willing" includes "has the resources, knowledge, and time". Many poor work longer hours, have less access to kitchen equipment, and less knowledge/experience cooking.

Yes, they can CHOOSE to change these things, just like anyone can CHOOSE to become a gourmet french chef, learn to play the french horn, or get a college education. But there's a lot more that goes into making these things a reality than just making a CHOICE.

I think that being poor certainly increases your likelihood of being fat for a myriad of reasons. It is a big public health concern in the UK.

The reasons are less to do with some misguided idea of lack of discipline (which is usually nothing more than a moral stick to beat the poor with) as opposed to access to more suitable food options, shops which supply them, transport to reach these places, education about how to construct a healthy and balanced diet and meals.

It's a skills, education and means problem as opposed to a "they just don't want it bad enough bro" problem.

Well said

Hi Kimi:
I think this topic deserves a multi-perspective answer. I can not speak to the cost of healthy eating in third world countries from personal experience, but I know living in less developed countries is very difficult. It has been suggested that healthy eating is more costly; however, I think that those of a lower economic status in the US have a tendency to eat more processed food due more to convenience, than cost. If you really consider what fast food, or frozen processed foods cost, they are not less expensive. The fast food companies do use ingredients that cause addiction to them, the principal ones are fat and sugar. I think that the new term "eating clean," is just a way of saying the more additives and chemicals a food has the less healthy. I definitely recommend victory or patio gardens to everyone, because they can help save money. We have a pretty large one, and several different fruit trees. What it really comes down to is time.Planning helps. You can make very nutrious meals that are not costly if you use seasonal produce, beans, or other grains, herbs and spices. We eat WAY too much meat in this country. Stores like Aldi (if in your area) have great produce for low cost. Culture and education are other factors in food choices. Some cultures are known for health promoting eating habits ie: Mediterranean, or Asian cuisine. Most cultures favorite foods can be adapted to use healthier ingredients if lard or other unhealthy fats are normally used. I think most people are less concerned with their health or nutrition than what TV program they want to watch. There have been alot of good suggestions here. Slow cookers are an excellent investment because they can make the toughest meat incredibly delicious. Soups are also very cost effective and can also be a way of using up a bunch of you have in the frig so it doesn't spoil. I have enjoyed this topic, and of course we all have different beliefs.

If you are willing to cook your own food from scratch, eating healthy is NOT more expensive than unhealthy.

I can prepare an extremely healthy meal at home for less than $2-3 per person in a family of 4.

However, if you want to buy pre-made foods, whole plates of just cooked food (eating out), etc., then it is a LOT more expensive.

So... people are to blame for their own weight, whether rich or poor. It's a choice.

But poor people can't just buy their way into healthy eating the way rich people CAN, but only sometimes DO.

Your definition of "willing" includes "has the resources, knowledge, and time". Many poor work longer hours, have less access to kitchen equipment, and less knowledge/experience cooking.

Yes, they can CHOOSE to change these things, just like anyone can CHOOSE to become a gourmet french chef, learn to play the french horn, or get a college education. But there's a lot more that goes into making these things a reality than just making a CHOICE.

I work 75 hours a week and am teaching myself to cook. I'm not going to school for a course in french cuisine. I have a teeny tiny kitchen with a barely functioning fridge that was passed down to us by some friends who upgraded their fridge. I'm just looking up recipes and resources on the internet and using them. I never used to cook, no idea how. Just trying to teach myself. Sometimes I fail sometimes I don't. I am not exactly rich (see post where I make under $20,000 a year). I have less knowledge and experience but that doesn't stop me.

So yeah, in my opinion, I would say that that is a choice.

Good job!!

I think its up to the person really,
I spend less money on food than my friends do and I have a healthy high raw diet filled with fruit and veggies in abundance and then back up options of rice potatoes and beans when I'm low on fruit.
And I can do that on about £25 a week easy!

Tagging to read later. It's gonna end so well :noway:

I can't believe how judgmental folks are toward poor people and poor people who are overweight and obese. I had many of the same assumptions until I became active with a community organizing group that works in urban areas. I also ended up teaching nontraditional students at night who were low income people with families on financial aid (scholarships). The food issue is not just about money and wise choices but about time; these students were often working, going to school to improve their economic status, and raising families. As many posters have said, there are "food deserts" in urban areas where it's hard to get to a grocery store without a car, so fresh food is not available, and there's no question that the processed food industry in both the U.S. and the U.K. have made it cheaper to eat junky processed foods than fresh foods. Also, people who have less education are often more susceptible to the aggressive marketing of these foods. Often these cheap processed foods are also what show up in food pantries and subsidy feeding programs. But another issue I have found with the working poor (and this number is growing in the U.S., as wages haven't adjusted for inflation since the 90s) is that many people with families are working 2 jobs or 40+ hours a week just to survive. One can't make a garden or spend time creating home-cooked meals under those conditions, or if there is a small amount of time, the person at the end of the day is so exhausted, he or she reaches for whatever is cheap and convenient -- yes, sometimes using food for comfort.

By the way, the school I work at provides snacks for the students: granola bars and fruit. When we looked at our budget and thought about what to cut, we found that buying granola bars (a General Mills product) in bulk was much cheaper than buying apples.

I do believe the food industry bears a large responsibility for the poor eating habits of low income people. If you think the food industry is not to blame, look at foreign countries where obesity was not a problem, but that are now having the problem. Often the problem is happening in areas where American style fast food and processed foods are making their way into those areas.