5 ms·

Drugs and obesity. It sure seems like we have too much abundance. But the top comment is about inequality. I do think we have everything we need, but we don't

Drugs and obesity. It sure seems like we have too much abundance. But the top comment is about inequality. I do think we have everything we need, but we don't like seeing people have more than us. I find this strange, maybe this is genetic and used to find the best mates.

AJ007 7y ago
The opioid epidemic was unforeseen, but the obesity epidemic has been a steady and uninterrupted. Predictably, it causes a decline in life expectancy.
kerkeslager 7y ago
Obesity isn't caused by abundance. On the contrary, poverty is strongly correlated with obesity in the US[1]--which indeed points to an inequality link. The correlation between poverty and drug use is strongly politicized, so much so that the top search results on Google for "substance abuse and poverty" are all political faux-informational sites. Data is hard to find. But this is also because the data is less clear. Alcohol/marijuana are used the most in a) high income areas, and b) areas with large income inequality[2] (again an inequality link, but in slightly unexpected ways). I've found numerous sources claiming that two studies exists: The first study supposedly shows that heroin use is rising across all income brackets, while other illicit substances (besides heroin and marijuana) are more prevalent in low-income brackets. The second study supposedly shows that prescription drugs are more prevalent in lower income brackets. However, I have not been able to locate these studies (I'm guessing this is because they are behind paywalls). Assuming all these sources aren't lying about the studies existing, I think the data does indicate a link between inequality and substance abuse (although it is not nearly as clear as the link between inequality and obesity). [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198075/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198075/ [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1974881/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1974881/
- _bxg1 7y ago
  > Obesity isn't caused by abundance. On the contrary, poverty is strongly correlated with obesity in the US[1]--which indeed points to an inequality link. Yep. You can see this in my state (Texas) simply by driving from a metroplex a couple of hours out into the country. Obesity visibly skyrockets. Part of it is cultural, but part of it is economic. Healthy food is simply more expensive, especially if you want it to taste good.
  - thrower123 7y ago
    > Part of it is cultural, but part of it is economic. Healthy food is simply more expensive, especially if you want it to taste good. This canard keeps getting thrown out, but it is absolutely not more expensive to eat healthy, apart from needing to have some tiny semblance of skill in the kitchen. Buying real food is cheaper than buying processed garbage, and it's not like an EBT card only works for buying eggo waffles and Doritos, rather than frozen peas and porkchops. It's entirely cultural.
    - asdff 7y ago
      Healthy food takes time to prepare and make as well, which is hard when you work 60 hour weeks to make rent before any other expenses.
      - P_I_Staker 7y ago
        That part is somewhat true. It's the illusive cheap, healthy, tasty, fast combo that's so hard to achieve. I have to agree with OP about cost though. There are even decent healthy frozen products that are affordable (most people could spend $1 on veg; they wouldn't think twice spending that on a drink) and take no effort. Frozen chicken breasts can be thrown directly in oven and eaten with mixed spices and/or sauce. It is doable.
        _bxg1 7y ago
        > There are even decent healthy frozen products that are affordable Most of them cost a dollar or two extra, though. The people on HN probably have a skewed perspective on what amount of money starts to matter; for some people $1 more for a meal really does matter.
- war1025 7y ago
  Obesity is caused by shitty diet and "normalization of deviance" since a better term escapes me right now. People eat too much low value food. Some of that is due to poverty, but when over half the population is overweight, it isn't just an issue of lack of good food. It's bad choices. Largely brought on by bad government advice and incentives. Edit: Expanding a bit, I recently talked with a couple friends from college. One had lost 100lbs and another had lost quite a bit of weight. The main change they made was to cut out soft drinks. One of them said, "Why didn't anyone tell me that's a bad idea?" Worded another way, I've heard it explained before that we tell people "eat more of this". People take that to mean "Eat what you already eat, plus these things, and you will be healthy." What it actually means is "Don't eat this garbage that is making you sick." But it's never worded that way. Add to that the fact that all government nutrition advice is basically just pandering to the highest bidder with little regard for what actually makes for a healthy diet, and it's no wonder people have so many problems.
- humble_engineer 7y ago
  Obesity is not caused by poverty. Poor people are stupid and they make bad decisions. I'm sorry if the truth offends you. Keep searching for that rosy ignorance that soothes you.
- thorwasdfasdf 7y ago
  although it's true that poverty results in greater obesity in the US, it doesn't have to be this way. Some of the healthiest foods out there are also among the very cheapest. You can construct an incredibly healthy diet on just 2$ - 4$ per day or less: rolled oats (70c/lb or less) -> can be used to make oat milk, oat meal, baked goods, etc and it lowers your LDL with tons of health benefits. Other things all can be found for less than 1$/lb => bananas, apples, onions, beans, rice (38c/lb or less at costco!!), bell peppers, grapes (sometimes), potatoes, lentils, etc. Oatmeal and Beans are a superfood, greatly undervalued in our society. The key is to shop in the bulk section of the store. All these things and more are at least 10 times less costly than mcDonalds, we just need to get the word out. Once there's consumer demand for these things we can start alleviating the food dessert areas in the US.
mLuby 7y ago
Too much Freedom, more like. And not enough care for each other.

AJ007 7y ago

The opioid epidemic was unforeseen, but the obesity epidemic has been a steady and uninterrupted. Predictably, it causes a decline in life expectancy.

kerkeslager 7y ago

Obesity isn't caused by abundance. On the contrary, poverty is strongly correlated with obesity in the US[1]--which indeed points to an inequality link. The correlation between poverty and drug use is strongly politicized, so much so that the top search results on Google for "substance abuse and poverty" are all political faux-informational sites. Data is hard to find. But this is also because the data is less clear. Alcohol/marijuana are used the most in a) high income areas, and b) areas with large income inequality[2] (again an inequality link, but in slightly unexpected ways). I've found numerous sources claiming that two studies exists: The first study supposedly shows that heroin use is rising across all income brackets, while other illicit substances (besides heroin and marijuana) are more prevalent in low-income brackets. The second study supposedly shows that prescription drugs are more prevalent in lower income brackets. However, I have not been able to locate these studies (I'm guessing this is because they are behind paywalls). Assuming all these sources aren't lying about the studies existing, I think the data does indicate a link between inequality and substance abuse (although it is not nearly as clear as the link between inequality and obesity). [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198075/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198075/ [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1974881/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1974881/

_bxg1 7y ago
> Obesity isn't caused by abundance. On the contrary, poverty is strongly correlated with obesity in the US[1]--which indeed points to an inequality link. Yep. You can see this in my state (Texas) simply by driving from a metroplex a couple of hours out into the country. Obesity visibly skyrockets. Part of it is cultural, but part of it is economic. Healthy food is simply more expensive, especially if you want it to taste good.
- thrower123 7y ago
  > Part of it is cultural, but part of it is economic. Healthy food is simply more expensive, especially if you want it to taste good. This canard keeps getting thrown out, but it is absolutely not more expensive to eat healthy, apart from needing to have some tiny semblance of skill in the kitchen. Buying real food is cheaper than buying processed garbage, and it's not like an EBT card only works for buying eggo waffles and Doritos, rather than frozen peas and porkchops. It's entirely cultural.
  - asdff 7y ago
    Healthy food takes time to prepare and make as well, which is hard when you work 60 hour weeks to make rent before any other expenses.
    - P_I_Staker 7y ago
      That part is somewhat true. It's the illusive cheap, healthy, tasty, fast combo that's so hard to achieve. I have to agree with OP about cost though. There are even decent healthy frozen products that are affordable (most people could spend $1 on veg; they wouldn't think twice spending that on a drink) and take no effort. Frozen chicken breasts can be thrown directly in oven and eaten with mixed spices and/or sauce. It is doable.
      - _bxg1 7y ago
        > There are even decent healthy frozen products that are affordable Most of them cost a dollar or two extra, though. The people on HN probably have a skewed perspective on what amount of money starts to matter; for some people $1 more for a meal really does matter.
war1025 7y ago
Obesity is caused by shitty diet and "normalization of deviance" since a better term escapes me right now. People eat too much low value food. Some of that is due to poverty, but when over half the population is overweight, it isn't just an issue of lack of good food. It's bad choices. Largely brought on by bad government advice and incentives. Edit: Expanding a bit, I recently talked with a couple friends from college. One had lost 100lbs and another had lost quite a bit of weight. The main change they made was to cut out soft drinks. One of them said, "Why didn't anyone tell me that's a bad idea?" Worded another way, I've heard it explained before that we tell people "eat more of this". People take that to mean "Eat what you already eat, plus these things, and you will be healthy." What it actually means is "Don't eat this garbage that is making you sick." But it's never worded that way. Add to that the fact that all government nutrition advice is basically just pandering to the highest bidder with little regard for what actually makes for a healthy diet, and it's no wonder people have so many problems.
humble_engineer 7y ago
Obesity is not caused by poverty. Poor people are stupid and they make bad decisions. I'm sorry if the truth offends you. Keep searching for that rosy ignorance that soothes you.
thorwasdfasdf 7y ago
although it's true that poverty results in greater obesity in the US, it doesn't have to be this way. Some of the healthiest foods out there are also among the very cheapest. You can construct an incredibly healthy diet on just 2$ - 4$ per day or less: rolled oats (70c/lb or less) -> can be used to make oat milk, oat meal, baked goods, etc and it lowers your LDL with tons of health benefits. Other things all can be found for less than 1$/lb => bananas, apples, onions, beans, rice (38c/lb or less at costco!!), bell peppers, grapes (sometimes), potatoes, lentils, etc. Oatmeal and Beans are a superfood, greatly undervalued in our society. The key is to shop in the bulk section of the store. All these things and more are at least 10 times less costly than mcDonalds, we just need to get the word out. Once there's consumer demand for these things we can start alleviating the food dessert areas in the US.

mLuby 7y ago

Too much Freedom, more like. And not enough care for each other.