4 ms·

More likely that you'll have weight problems because healthy food and lifestyles are much more difficult to acquire and maintain without sufficient wealth.

treeman79 6y ago
It’s such a reversal. Historically Chunky woman were often considered more ideal since that meant wealth and status. Skinny woman meant poverty. Difficult to carry fat on a diet of turnips.
OCASM 6y ago
No shortage of healthy, yet poor people. Then again we go back to the problem of defining "healthy". Not even the ultra-wealthy are completely illness-free.
- rayhendricks 6y ago
  Healthy is a BMI in the normal range and following something close to the Harvard nutrition plate (USDA one is bought by big agriculture). Being able to afford a meal service or go to Whole Foods is also much harder when you live in a food desert. Yes we do give people EBT or something but then it is spent on junk food/soda. So how do you fix that? Maybe if you’re overweight medically speaking pay more in insurance/taxes? That would never fly tho so we are in the current national predicament.
lopmotr 6y ago
Really? Walking is free but driving isn't. More food costs more than less food. And lots of boring difficult healthy food (eg. veges) is cheaper than more pleasurable easy food (eg. fast food). Being unemployed provides more time to do healthy things than having a busy job. I'd say the reason poor people are unhealthy is the same as the reason they're poor - unwillingness to work.
- danans 6y ago
  > Walking is free but driving isn't. Living in safe neighborhood to walk in isn't cheap, nor is a gym membership, nor is having time to drive to a nice neighborhood or trailhead to hike. > Being unemployed provides more time to do healthy things than having a busy job. People who are chronically unemployed but physically able often have a serious mental health issue that prevents them from holding down a job. > I'd say the reason poor people are unhealthy is the same as the reason they're poor - unwillingness to work. The working poor usually have little time in their day to exercise for health, especially when they are working multiple low wage jobs to make ends meet. Many of them work physically demanding jobs that are bad for their health, and are exhausted by the end of their work day - and not a "good" kind of exhaustion at that.

treeman79 6y ago

It’s such a reversal. Historically Chunky woman were often considered more ideal since that meant wealth and status. Skinny woman meant poverty. Difficult to carry fat on a diet of turnips.

OCASM 6y ago

No shortage of healthy, yet poor people. Then again we go back to the problem of defining "healthy". Not even the ultra-wealthy are completely illness-free.

rayhendricks 6y ago
Healthy is a BMI in the normal range and following something close to the Harvard nutrition plate (USDA one is bought by big agriculture). Being able to afford a meal service or go to Whole Foods is also much harder when you live in a food desert. Yes we do give people EBT or something but then it is spent on junk food/soda. So how do you fix that? Maybe if you’re overweight medically speaking pay more in insurance/taxes? That would never fly tho so we are in the current national predicament.

lopmotr 6y ago

Really? Walking is free but driving isn't. More food costs more than less food. And lots of boring difficult healthy food (eg. veges) is cheaper than more pleasurable easy food (eg. fast food). Being unemployed provides more time to do healthy things than having a busy job. I'd say the reason poor people are unhealthy is the same as the reason they're poor - unwillingness to work.

danans 6y ago
> Walking is free but driving isn't. Living in safe neighborhood to walk in isn't cheap, nor is a gym membership, nor is having time to drive to a nice neighborhood or trailhead to hike. > Being unemployed provides more time to do healthy things than having a busy job. People who are chronically unemployed but physically able often have a serious mental health issue that prevents them from holding down a job. > I'd say the reason poor people are unhealthy is the same as the reason they're poor - unwillingness to work. The working poor usually have little time in their day to exercise for health, especially when they are working multiple low wage jobs to make ends meet. Many of them work physically demanding jobs that are bad for their health, and are exhausted by the end of their work day - and not a "good" kind of exhaustion at that.