The Curious Problem of Obesity
among the Poor
American Thinker,
by
P. F. Whelan
Original Article
Posted By: Magnante,
8/19/2020 8:33:26 AM
In a recent OpEd from The Guardian, author Larry Elliot opines on the frequency of obesity among low-income households in the U.K., and points out that the problem “in the U.S. mirrors that of the U.K.” Elliot goes on to proclaim, that, “there will be less obesity when people can afford to eat better.”
The premise is that poor folks are victims of one injustice or another; in Elliot’s case, he claims they are unable to afford healthy food. This notion has been floating around for several years now, particularly as it relates to children, and is one that is frequently parroted by the left in America.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Strike3 8/19/2020 8:53:41 AM (No. 514430)
The poor have the same choice as the rich as to what they put in their grocery carts. If they choose chips, cakes and coke, it's nobody's problem but their own.
38 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
chance_232 8/19/2020 9:02:42 AM (No. 514436)
I dont know about that. Buying fresh and cooking from scratch costs more than buying prepackaged meals.
Although, I'll wager that the biggest problem is sugar and junk food.
20 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Proud Texan 8/19/2020 9:06:37 AM (No. 514440)
I suspect there are a lot of bigger issues than what people eat, or can afford to eat, although that probably has a little to do with it. Some of the problem may have to do with what people can afford to do for leisure and how much time they have for leisure versus working. More and more, it probably has more to do with how safe it is for poorer people to even step outside of their house with rioters, defunding police, and more gun control preventing them from being able to defend themselves outside of their home. Nothing like keeping less fortunate people subservient and locked inside to make a Democrat or liberal do-gooder happy.
10 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bpl40 8/19/2020 9:10:36 AM (No. 514442)
Food stamps that could easily buy enough groceries like flour, hamburger, potatoes, greens to feed a family of four for a week are spent on a couple of hamburger meals with greasy fries at McDonalds. This is a cultural issue. Maybe life in these Unites States is 'grotesquely unequal and unfair' according to Bernie Sanders. But who and what made it that way is something we all must face honestly.
20 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
sanspeur 8/19/2020 9:16:40 AM (No. 514446)
one factor never discussed is the changing gov’t standards for obesity. Just like Uncle lowered grading systems for meat ..prime now is what was choice , choice is what was utility ..Ditto school grading , standards .. measuring of humans has reduced acceptably “chubby” to obese . All for our good , their control .
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
padiva 8/19/2020 9:22:02 AM (No. 514450)
It takes time and effort to plan meals and snacks. It is too easy to stuff non-nutritious food in your face when you are hungry.
15 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
janjan 8/19/2020 9:26:16 AM (No. 514455)
The government’s default strategy to solve any problem is to throw money at it. The money never seems to find its way to the core issue, mainly because to solve any problem you first have to clearly identify it. Poor eating habits stem from ignorance, not income. Giving the poor more money to buy more unhealthy food is not the answer. Perhaps instead of focusing on so-called white supremacy and Chairman Mao’s political philosophies the schools could do some community education on nutrition. It would be a start.
12 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Newtsche 8/19/2020 9:33:11 AM (No. 514465)
Self indulgence, immediate gratification, low impulse control, ability to swallow with the Man's foot on one's throat, a long list.
13 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
paral04 8/19/2020 9:34:37 AM (No. 514467)
Make junk food and snacks ineligible for food satmp payments. Fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, and dairy and limited starch products OK. Make them take time to prepare decent meals. No excuses. If they are hungry enough they will do it.
16 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
grampus 8/19/2020 9:35:46 AM (No. 514468)
I grew up poor as did many of my friends and family. Not a fatty among us. Not a real fatty (by today's standards) in high school but a couple of kids who were overweight. We were not as concerned with "eating properly" as with getting enough to eat. Weight control? The adults probably had ample exercise walking and doing physical work. Most kids benefited from a great deal of walking, plus playing outside, and doing some work. I remember that when I was in second grade, the teacher daily handed out four tickets for free lunch. (Probably most of us in class qualified.) I was delighted when I sometimes was a lucky recipient because the free lunch included a delicious half-pint of milk.
15 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Rama41 8/19/2020 9:40:58 AM (No. 514475)
Obesity remains a serious problem in the inner city, with a high proportion of single-parent families and a scarcity of grocery stores unwilling to locate there for obvious reasons. I don't know the answer, but think it wrong to blame it all on poor choices of poor consumers.
7 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
John C 8/19/2020 9:42:29 AM (No. 514479)
Herman Cain noted to his black brethren, that if you aren't rich in America, it is your own fault.
13 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
504pc 8/19/2020 10:04:02 AM (No. 514501)
Poster #10, I remember you really hit the jackpot when you got chocolate milk.
12 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 8/19/2020 10:09:42 AM (No. 514509)
Follow an obese person around the grocery store (not convenience store) to see what they put in their shopping cart. It certainly doesn't look like any of the food I eat. I never do fast foods, ever, I prefer eating and cooking at home and no sugar, cakes snacks or junk food except popcorn in our house. I weight ten more pounds than I weighed in 1990 it comes with age my wife weighs less than when I met her. It's choice not being less fortunate an obese person has a choice and I'm not more fortunate those grocery store doors slide open for everyone. This is a bull corn article from the UK.
10 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
qr4j 8/19/2020 10:15:29 AM (No. 514518)
Child obesity is not a simple problem. But I agree, as others here have suggested, that taking responsibility for one's self and one's family is the first step at solving it.
It is true that fresh foods are often more expensive than prepackaged meals. Produce isn't cheap. And still I can find bags of unpeeled carrots for under $3 -- under $2 when they are on sale. And there are other cheap vegetables too. But it takes time to shop for bargains, cook healthy meals, insist children eat their vegetables, etc. And it takes training too -- how to shop, cook, parent, etc.
But I see people use their government cards at convenient stores. They are buying junk food and paying premium prices. THAT is a choice -- just from an economic standpoint. And it certainly isn't good in the prevention of obesity.
The availability of neighborhood grocery stores is an issue. Many grocery stores leave poorer neighborhoods because of the shrinkage -- a nice way of saying theft. And then add vandalism. And add burglaries. And add high taxes from blue cities along with the crippling regulations. These stores wouldn't leave if they made a profit.
Government has failed. People make bad choices. Throwing more money at the problem is not the answer.
8 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
msjena 8/19/2020 10:16:19 AM (No. 514520)
Are these the same people who have to loot so they can eat?
7 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
3XALADY 8/19/2020 10:20:00 AM (No. 514524)
#11 That was my first thought too. They have burned out or stolen from all the stores that would sell fresh produce.
8 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Kate318 8/19/2020 10:20:21 AM (No. 514526)
I believe #6 comes closest to the truth. It takes time and effort to plan and prepare a healthy meal, and even more effort to make permanent lifestyle changes that include getting up off of the couch, and giving up unhealthy habits. It’s not money, and it’s not culture, and this type of behavior is not limited to “the poor.”
10 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Krause 8/19/2020 10:20:53 AM (No. 514527)
So many people just exist, not thinking how best to live their lives. Eating whatever tastes good, tied to their big screen TV's, getting little exercise and generally not getting educated.
8 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 8/19/2020 10:56:36 AM (No. 514571)
Seems to me obesity and poverty are both symptoms of the same problem of making poor choices.
6 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Faithfully 8/19/2020 10:58:46 AM (No. 514572)
I walked two miles to school, two miles home for lunch, two miles back to school and two miles home. Then played outside until the streetlights came on.
5 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
LadyHen 8/19/2020 11:19:55 AM (No. 514589)
We have a very messed up USDA food pyramid and have for decades. It is the government spreading this disinformation so this should come as no shock.
High carb (and thus high sugar) diets lead to obesity and a myriad of other issues from diabetes to tooth decay. Protein + moderate fat + exercise, especially some lifting exercise to gain muscles and not just cardio = a healthier body. It is just our biology, how we evolved. Limit carbs and sugar, It is pretty hard to keep them below 50g a day but you can. Read those labels. Sneaky carbs are everywhere. I use a phone app to track them. And yeah, processed food are full of carbs.
4 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
DVC 8/19/2020 2:06:19 PM (No. 514753)
BS.
People are fat for the exact same reasons they are poor.
Bad choices and no self control.
3 people like this.
When I was a kid, fast food or a soda was a treat, not something you ate or drank daily. We also spent most of our free time outdoors and yearned to play with our friends outside. We rode bikes everywhere, many times alone, at very young ages. It’s a societal change that made us obese, quit blaming the food. Whatever happened to fork put-downs and table pushaways for exercise? Take some flippin’ personal responsibility for once.
3 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
pensom2 8/19/2020 2:53:31 PM (No. 514787)
That's the sort of food you eat when your only nearby grocery store is All a Dollar. Sure, the disciplined ones could formulate a plan to take the bus to the real grocery store once a week and stock up in their modest-sized refrigerator, assuming they have that much cash and food stamps saved up for weekly shopping. But all that discipline and planning is rarely found in the families (Mom & kids--no dad) who are inner city, fifth generation food stamp users.
1 person likes this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
coldoc 8/19/2020 3:03:56 PM (No. 514792)
Phoenix news just had a clip lauding a school district for delivering meals to "poor" families. Yeh, the same ones who line up in their new suvs for freebies. And the delivery vehicle- a 40 school bus, for one seat full of food.
1 person likes this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
Catherine 8/19/2020 4:57:48 PM (No. 514894)
I'm sure many of you have the perfect cure for obesity. It's always good to hear from you. Most have no idea what they're talking about, tho. When you are poor you cannot afford to feed your family the same way as someone who has enough money on their own. You usually are feeding a family that includes children. You want your children to be full. Lettuce, fruits and vegetables won't do it. However, carbs will fill them up so it's rice, potatoes and pasta. Just because someone is poor or fat, doesn't make them less of a person. Yes, many sit all day and eat, but most work and have to make tough choices with whatever money they earn. A little compassion will go a lot further than snide remarks about lazy, couches or potato chips.
2 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
udanja99 8/19/2020 7:15:08 PM (No. 515009)
It’s not what you eat so much as it is how much you eat. All things in moderation ALWAYS works. Have a cookie, but don’t eat the whole bag. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone sit on the sofa watching television and eat an entire bag of Cheetos without even tasting them or knowing how much they are eating.
I grew up in the South in the 50’s when the poor cooked and ate very healthy foods like greens, sweet potatoes, beans, meat and grains. No one was remotely overweight much less obese. And most kids spent every minute they could of every day playing outside or doing chores. Now kids are too impatient and too entitled.
3 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
HoneymoonGal 8/19/2020 8:28:44 PM (No. 515048)
My daily diet contains no sugar or starch whatsoever. I prepare my own salad dressing because the stuff at the grocery store is full of soybean oil and sugar. I make it weekly by throwing the ingredients in the blender and storing it in the fridge in a mason jar. Sure, I have to shake it up, but it's not a big deal. It saves me money and I know what's in it. My grocery bill is not large. I didn't feed my kids junk either. Neither of them are obese. I am not "rich," but I have also seen my mother's severe health problems from diabetes and have no wish to follow in her footsteps. At my current age, she had had diabetes for years. She is currently on dialysis with end-stage renal disease and almost blind. I do not have diabetes. It is because I don't eat any junk food and am very careful about what I do eat. I certainly have a family history of it.
0 people like this.
You are all wrong. I am with these people all the time. The real issue is greed. You have no idea how much free stuff is thrown at the so called low income. It's worse since the virus. Why on earth would an unwed mother get married and cut off the feed bag? Not only are some getting $1000 to $1700 a month in EBT, the kids were getting free food at school. Now that they aren't in school, EBT was increased plus they are getting over $300 per child more, plus they can still go to the schools and pick up free food. Then food banks go out and pass out free food and state senators are having big food giveaways.
If you got $1200 in stimulus, they collect another $500 per child plus another $`1200 for the 'fiancee' formerly baby daddy. Plus SSDI going to the household and unemployment and the $600 a week.
Who is hungry ? The elderly.
1 person likes this.
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