How is it that it seems that more than a few poor people in America are fat, but poor people elsewhere in the world are universally skinny?

The poor buy food that is crap and offers the least nutrition. It’s cheap.
But so are rich people cheap. so why don’t they cash in on the junk and Make money while eating? Some do but they aren’t as stupid as some poor people and they get the better cuts of food, whatever it is. Some poor people aren’t stupid but they do the best they can. Some poor people have their priorities wrong and go for the cheetos and other shit, because they like it. Most things they do in life is because they like it. Some poor are ignorant and don’t know any better.
We have a food system that just makes really bad food that isn’t as prevalent in other parts of the world and those poor people over there are ignorant too but the lack of shitty American style fast food is doing them a favor…even though if you dropped a bag of Big Macs out in one of those remote villages full of hungry people the bag wouldn’t hit the ground. Because these people may not have much to eat good or bad.
About as politically correct you all will ever see me here so take that with a grain of salt.

Food system?

Are food vouchers regulated so that shit food cannot be bought with them? I thought they were. Somehow the sodas and other BS foods are being eaten. That tells me they have plenty of cash and I mean a shit ton of cash to make everyone in the hooch obese.

Carbs. Carbs are cheap. But there might be something else at work here. Look at the films and photos from the ‘30s depression era. Check out the people in the streets, or the migrant workers, etc. They are very thin. I’m no dietician, but I think food is much different today than it was earlier in the 20th century with all the changes in production, additives, etc.

Obesity has risen at an alarming rate in the European countries in the last few decades.

Here is just one of many graphs half of adults living in the European Union countries are now overweight or obese%252F2011%252F10%252Fdenmarks-fat-tax.html%3B750%3B500 of the 25 nations in the EU.

The rate of obesity in Europe has more than doubled in the past decade. ” Over half of Europeans are overweight”...

Article

Obesity has become a problem for over 25% of the Russian population

@josie Yes, food system. Cheap empty high carb calories. They create insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity.

Food system ya. Whatever food processing that has been accepted. Including advertising targeting kids that get them used to Coco Puffs and Happy Meals etc. Schools seem to not have PE as part of the curriculum,unless they be Religious schools or otherwise better private institutions. Kids are lazy asses now. They were lazy assess 20 years ago, so now they are adult lazy asses and so are their kids. These people don’t want to yell at their kids hurting their feelings and further destroying their crushed self esteems. So they get them electronics to play with also because since they are first generation lazy asses they want video games just as much.

The whole US food pyramid is out of whack. It serves US agriculture instead of US health and it’s portrayed like some kind of irrefutable gospel truth. It’s like they purposely mislead people.

Experts warn of growing obesity problems in Africa

”...maize, excessive sugar, fat and fast-food consumption formed large parts of unhealthy diets in these economies.”

“Africa’s growing middle class is increasing the threat of obesity, creating a paradoxical double burden for the continent as it also struggles with malnutrition…”

Yeah I remember an article about the Brits getting tubby in recent years. This is getting bad.

America is the land of cheap carbs.

Plus the commercially grown vegetables we eat contain less vitamins and minerals than they did in the past. I can’t find a source but I remember watching a Jamie Oliver program about healthy foods and eating and he said carrots were now grown to have a higher sugar content than they did in the past. Carrots are already a high sugar vegetable so that can’t be good. I’ve searched and I can’t find anything to support this idea so it may be bull.

1.) McDonalds is cheap
2.) Food stamps buy lots of chips, hot pockets, and ice cream
3.) No job + lazy = sedentary lifestyle

~just found out that the taco bell is a 2 minute walk from home… hmm $5 combo.

@livelaughlove21 I wanted to say that but I figured the PC crowd would howl.
@Bellatrix They do breed plants for higher sugar content but it’s probably not a major factor. It’s the processed, high fat, high calorie foods.
Go to the grocery store this time of the month and watch what people are buying with their food welfare checks. Soda, chips, junk food, and TV dinner style food.

I absolutely agree @Adirondackwannabe but it still seems shameful when we are telling people to eat a healthy diet and to cut out processed foods that the vegetables we are now producing are deficient in vitamins and higher in sugar because of our farming practices. Something a bit wrong there. Why are they being grown to have a higher sugar content? Do you know?

I think obesity is a developed world problem. It certainly isn’t only a problem in the US.

@Bellatrix They’re not deficient in vitamins, but they do have a bit more sugar. It’s probably not significant when you look at the calories from fat and HFCS. Obesity is a problem everywhere.

@bookish1 “America is the land of cheap carbs”

….and big pants

@woodcutter Try finding 32 inch waist slacks when you need at least 34 inch inseams.

@Adirondackwannabe My husband wears 32×34 pants – finding his size is always a hassle. Skinny ass…

@livelaughlove21 I wondered if I’d get crap after I hit the answer button. But us skinny ass guys love a lady with curves.

I disagree with the majority here in one aspect and that is I see plenty of fat well to do people and middle class also. It is not just the disease of the poor. I recently read that Australia has surpassed USA in per capita obesity and it is not the people living on the street who are fat. If you consume few calories, it doesn’t matter if they are in the form of beer, donuts or vegetables (organic or not) you will be skinny. You may not be healthy but you will be skinny. If you consume more calories than you need, again regardless of their source, you will get fat. End of story. Runners eat a lot of carbs but they are not fat. So you can’t blame carbs. The culprit is eating too much and not moving enough. Poor and hungry do not always go hand in hand. But fat and sedentary almost always do.

Corn subsidies. We sell cheap calories with no nutritional value and our country subsidies fattening us up like chattel.
Also, many poor get their groceries from stop and go markets because grocery chains have moved out of their neighborhoods.

I found a way past the “bad for you delivery”... I ordered $10 worth of carrots instead of pizza…. the carrots were 25 cents a piece.. and were fresh and crisp.

Like @Judi said, availability of decent food is a huge problem in many urban areas. My work takes me all over the vast poor areas of Chicago, and you never come across a supermarket. People do their food shopping in liquor stores and gas stations.

This “food desert” problem is really hard to do anything about. Supermarket chains have no desire to move into high crime areas. Many people don’t own cars to travel to outlying stores. And once people have acquired a taste for high-fat foods that require no preparation, it’s hard to make a case for steamed veggies.

In America, unless you grow food yourself (which takes up time and money as well), it is often cheaper to buy processed junk foods than it is to buy healthier foods.

There are lobbying efforts at this very moment in DC by the fast food industry to allow EBT cards (aka food stamps) to be used in fast food outlets. Big push for this on the side of the industry.

I agree with @Judi and @thorninmud. In the capital city of the state where I live, there are no grocery stores within the city limits. So the rich folks who live in the suburbs and commute to work in the city by car can go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s and congratulate themselves for eating organic meat and vegetables, while the people who live in the city and clean the buildings where the rich people work buy their food in convenience stores or fast food places.

@Espiritus_Corvus: Yegh, that’s disgusting but not surprising. >_<

Dollar menus and food banks. Lots of fat and starch.

Why don’t we (wherever we live) have more community gardens. I have seen docos about people setting them up. I think community gardens, where people can grow fruit and veg, should be an integral part of any urban development. That and places for kids of different ages to spend time and get out in the fresh air. We seem to have lost our way in so many ways.

@Bellatrix In my community they have this. It costs very little to do it and I was all excited and wanted to try. I don’t have enough sunny spots in my yard to do it at home but this was cheap and available. I considered doing it this year, but hell!!! Let’s be real. I don’t have time. It is a big commitment to be there to water those veggies.

:-) Great that you have the option though. I have a big garden so there’s no excuse for me not to have a huge veggie patch but like you, having the time (and water down there) to do it has held us back.

I saw a program with the guy from Grand Designs where he had these townhouses built and included a community garden in the centre of the development. When I was quite young we lived in a terraced house as a kid but my dad was an avid gardener so he had a big allotment (with a greenhouse) where he grew vegetables. There was a whole community around that garden.

I have a friend now who belongs to a community garden project. It enriches her life in many other ways than just having veggies to eat.

I don’t think developers think about the needs of communities enough when planning new estates. It isn’t just about roads and housing with a few green spots with a set of swings. In my opinion, community gardens (and centres) are an important part of the mix and would go some way to solving problems like the obesity epidemic, loneliness in our aged community members, troublesome teens.

@Bellatrix I agree. I love that Michelle Obama pushed for this whole community garden thing. I don’r have experience with veggies though, only flowers. But they say that there are people involved in the project who are willing to help and mentor and that is great! I would love to meet my neighbors this way but my commute is a total bitch so I never have free time. ...it’s like, yeah, maybe in my next life….

Oh, and another thing is, they give you the option of donating some or all of your fresh, organic veggies to the local food bank. It really is a great thing to do.

I think so many children these days are raised in homes where not much in the way of cooking takes place, no example to follow, it can only be self-perpetuating, I’m so happy my daughter loves to cook, I realise now she absorbed much of what she saw her mother doing, and puts her own spin on it of course.

@Adagio I feel the same way about my grandaughters love of all fruits. We buy extra strawberries, blackberries and blueberries (her favorite) just to have on hand because we know she will go through most of a container of them. She even prefers fruit to candy; although if you offer her chocolate, there is a 50/50 chance she will go for that instead. @ 7 this month she is in the 75th percentile in height and 30th percentile in weight for her age.