Are the poor fat?
Replies
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In Plymouth (UK) it is much much more expensive to eat healthily. Theres an article in the local paper today stating that 60% of Plymouth adults are obese/overweight.
I don't believe its a lack of education here though because the information is everywhere (sometimes too much so imho) by the government, in schools, health clubs everywhere, the media etc etc
Sadly unemployment here is high and food banks are busier then ever
People have to make cuts and sometimes its the food bills which means less healthy stuff ><
My husband is lucky that he has a full time job but we still only bring home £18k a year for a family of 4 plus 2 cats and dog lol
I tend to visit the supermarkets late in the evening and try stock on reduced priced items now which helps a lot, also visiting more than one supermarket to buy the items on offer and cooking from scratch rather than anything processed helps
Our best investment was a slow cooker for healthy nutritious homemade soups and stews which don't break the bank.
Rubbish. Obesity derives from excessive eating of fat food. So people are not forced to eat a large pizza, a big bowl of fries, 2 cakes with ice cream etc., because this does not cost more than some grilled chicken with a few chips/potatoes and veg.0 -
You can get 5 bars of chocolate for £1. :it costs £1For 1 banana. £2.50 for 2 frozen ready meals it could cost £20 to buy the ingrediants fresh. Eating healthy is more expensive. Unless you can shop around and not have to go to farm foods kr jack foultons. Bad foods are always on offer.
Poor analogy0 -
Mistyb, if you haven't already please look for 99 cent bunches of spinach. Compared to the bag you have to cut and wash them yourself but if I recall correctly you get quite a bit more. The amount of kale you get for 99 cents is almost ridiculous.0
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ACCESS & EDUCATION
Access to diverse, fresh foods in low-income inner cities is nearly non-existent. Academics have coined the term 'food-desert' for regions where private residences are isolated in a sea of chinese take-out, dominos, & bodegas. For more information, search the web keyword 'food desert' or 'food justice'.
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.
Obesity is largely a symptom of institutionalized social inequality.0 -
True and sadly as long as you can buy Little Debbie snack cakes cheaper than a bag of grapes it will be that way0
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Good discussion but you win the prize as far as I'm concerned. No doubt it's cheaper and easier to eat sugar laden, high fat and heavily processed foods, especially if one has a large family and is working two jobs just to get by. I also agree with another person who commented that sometimes the pleasure of having something that simply tastes good is one form of entertainment, and it absolutely is entertainment, still available to the poor. I live in an area known for wide spread poverty and I just read an article where the only large grocery store within a 25 mile radius is closing. Food sold at smaller stores is notoriously more costly and there is less variety, less fresh produce, and often less than the best quality of meat. As another person said, hotdogs and hamburger are relatively cheap and while oatmeal is still a bargain, parents are beseiged by commercials that constantly imply that if they loved their children they'd buy them "Sugar-Os". Perhaps when some parents feel that they can't buy their children the latest gadget they can at least buy them their favorite junk food. I am not defending this behavior but I agree with you that when there is little or no discretionary spending, then food becomes the most likely form of comfort and "entertainment". Being poor is not a testament to poor character and being fat is not just about poor character either.
Interesting & valid points!0 -
The dude calling people lazy
I have never heard such a prejudiced pile of clap trap! People who work are fat and people who sit around are skinny sometimes - its not about being lazy you utter moronic tool!
Having lived in the US and the UK I can vouch 100% that its ALOT more difficult to stay healthy in America on a budget, the reason is that disgusting vile junk food you guys stock on the shelves at eye level is so much cheaper than anything remotely healthy. In the UK a basket of fresh produce is easy to come by because of fertile soil and plenty of farmers producing veg - in the US its beef and corn country - both of which lead to obesity.
America is paradise and hell all wrapped up into one country, if you are doing well - you are doing REALLY well, then there is everybody else who struggles just to eat and stay out of hospital where financially crippling bills await them for any illness they are unfortunate enough to get.
Maybe you should try living on say 10 or 15 thousand dollars and see how much nutrition you can afford in a country thats a playground for the rich whilst the majority are becoming homeless or starving..
Until then why not keep your prejudices to yourself?0 -
I think its easier, but not always cheaper.
In the US, its pretty easy to find low cost produce, but you can't buy in bulk due to the obvious fact it goes bad quickly.
Im not talking about the organic, non-GMO whole food produce, but go to the regular store and walk in the produce aisle.
Fruits and vegetables are relatively inexpensive, but you will find you have to go to the store more often and this becomes a burden.
The same goes with meat, there is almost a cyclic round of sales between different types of meat at most stores that make it fairly affordable, maybe not for the poorest of poor, but no one can cover all extremes.
I don't mean flash frozen chicken patties and hot dogs, but raw beef, chicken, pork...
This may be obvious to everyone here, but what is obvious to some is a real eye opener to others.
I've talk to friends and family and they weren't aware. They thought what was convenient and fast was cheapest.
Some would argue that their time is too valuable. A fine minute dinner now doesn't make up for the years at the end of your life being healthy.
In some cases, by no means all, the poor tend to be less educated, which translates to poorer food choices. This isn't meant to offend, I know many smart people from all walks of life, as well as incredibly dumb rich people.
My personal choices force me to the store to get fruits and vegetables at least once a week if not more. I buy meat when its on sale, sometimes I stock my freezer if its a good enough buy. Where I live we also have a meat-market, a local butcher that has meat and other odds and ends prepared and a discount prices for buying at the source.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.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!0 -
The "truely" poor can not afford to buy food, plus they usually have very physical jobs like farmers and construction. They need high caloritic food to survive.
There is very few "truely" poor people in the US.
Go to a third world country, see real poverty.
^^QFT.
My mom and dad grew up during the Depression. No one was fat back then.0 -
oh yes im poor and im fat. i agree. fattening food is so much cheaper which i typically go for. but it's okay cuz have been trying to get some healthier options now. oh well. the summer is where i shine to lose weight with the walks and cheaper fruit and veggie sales. lol0
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Let's see ... I can get 4 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken for $8 at the supermarket. For another $4 I can get a container of seasoned breadcrumbs and an 8-pack of whole wheat rolls. For $1.50 each I can have 8 sizeable, high-protein, low-fat chicken sandwiches (roughly 420 calories, 55g of protein, 7g fat, 30g carbs). Now the Spicy Chicken Sandwich at McDonald's apparently costs $1 in most of the country (I had to Google that) and gives me 380 calories, 15g protein, 17g fat, and 41g carbs (along with nearly half a day's worth of sodium). So for an extra 50 cents I can have nearly 4x the protein, less than half the fat, 3/4 of the carbs, and more net calories which all adds up to a meal that is going to leave me satiated for longer and thereby inclined to eat less. Tell me again how eating healthy has to be more expensive ... Bulls**t.
Stop buying into the low fat, reduced sugar, less this, less that marketing gimmicks that actually require you to pay more for less (often smaller portions) and simply make better dietary choices.
I can see what you're saying but I think it comes down to education. I had a health class, but my family always made plenty so no one 'went hungry'. I wasn't taught about calorie counting. I had no idea I was putting several times the daily amount into my body daily. I thought I was genetically fat and it was just how it was. Education is essential to teaching good eating habits and not just the standard health class. I want a class that asks the kids to log their foods for a week and actually opens their eyes to what they are putting in their bodies as to what they should be.0 -
I know this topic has already been debated to death but I felt like adding my two cents.
Where I live, there is a very unequal split of rich government workers, and people like me who are struggling to find work and have only managed to land a part time retail job earning minimum wage. My partner works as a substitute teacher and only lands a job a couple of times a week if he is lucky so neither one of us has an income that anyone would call steady, reliable or enough to support us when you take into the account that there are 3 universities in my city alone so the cost of rent is astronomical compared to the cost even just 20 minutes away.
I'll be the first to admit that yes, I eat way too many processed foods and I eat out way too often. The truth of it is, anything "healthy" here has become incredibly expensive to buy unless on sale. One single green pepper costs $3. A very small head of regular (not even organic) broccoli is usually $4. The cost to buy lettuce, a single tomato, bag of shredded carrot and a cucumber would be around $10, and the quality of the produce is really lacking... things they take out of the boxes that just arrived are already shriveled and mushy. And that's just the produce. If I want to buy a package of chicken breasts, I better be willing to spend $8 for two 4oz. breasts, or wait until someone I know is going to USA so they can grab me a package of 6 monster chicken breasts for $10. Unbelievable the price difference just an hour and a country away.
That being said when things do go on sale I stock up and freeze what I can, but affording these things on a regular basis is next to impossible for me to do without sacrificing things like rent or electricity. Yes I have the internet that I could cancel, but my partner needs it to apply for his supply jobs so it's kind of necessary.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?
Dumb stereotype is dumb. It's actually cheaper to eat healthy when you consider that overeating is unhealthy. Most people who think eating healthy is expensive are people with a skewed definition of the word "healthy." Since I've been eating healthy and getting fit, I've cut our grocery bill by over 20%.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.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!
>>>>CONSUMERISM0 -
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.0 -
The "truely" poor can not afford to buy food, plus they usually have very physical jobs like farmers and construction. They need high caloritic food to survive.
There is very few "truely" poor people in the US.
Go to a third world country, see real poverty.
^^QFT.
My mom and dad grew up during the Depression. No one was fat back then.
It would have been hard for them to get fat when they didn't eat. No one had money for food so no one ate. People literally starved to death. Just as they do in third-world countries, and in poverty-stricken areas of our own country.0 -
YesThe "truely" poor can not afford to buy food, plus they usually have very physical jobs like farmers and construction. They need high caloritic food to survive.
There is very few "truely" poor people in the US.
Go to a third world country, see real poverty.
Wow, what rubbish!0 -
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
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