How the hell do 'poor' people get so fat?

Uh... no. Think of the cheapest foods available. Almost all are terrible for you. There you go, that's why.

Actually yes, the environment does come into play with poor people.

If you don't have much money you wouldn't buy food from Whole Foods which is healthy organic EXPENSIVE foods. No, you'd pick McDonald's.

It's a choice of either spending more on food or health care. But poor people tend to lack education (not all) to realize this. Besides, it's easier to avoid health care whereas food is something to worry about everyday.

You can tell a lot about a person by his shoes. - Forrest Gump

Clearly you didn't watch Precious, she either ate gluttously even when she was hungry, or she was beaten. Her situation is not clearly so black and white.

It is also about addiction. Studies have shown that sugar affects the same part of your brain that heroin affects. Many food addicts and drug addicts share similar mental processes and addictive behaviors.

Your question should not just concern food and obesity but alcoholism, drug addiction etc... all those things are more prevalent in impoverished neighborhoods. And with them come neglect, sexual/physical/emotional abuse, incest, violence...you name it.

Why? People are suffering from abusive parents or neglect. Ending the cycle of poverty is INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT. It takes a huge shift in thinking for an individual.

One answer is to offer new mothers parenting classes and support centers. When people are able to give better care to their children, their children have more of a chance of life.

And getting out of neighborhoods where there is intense poverty. By whatever means neccessary, within reason.

The more your children, and you, get a chance to see people living a different life than the miserable one you have the more a chance they have of taking hold of a life like that and ending the cycle of poverty.

It does take an enmormous amount of self-will. Or...reliance on a higher power aka Jesus. :)

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You must live in a rich neighborhood. A box of spaghetti is $0.75-$0.99 where I live. Also, you can feed four kids at McD's for $12 ($3 per Happy Meal). I'm not saying it's right... I also don't have children, but that's the reality. McDonald's is what a lot of these kids are growing up on and it's what they crave. If you're a single mother of 3 or 4 and they're all screaming for a Happy Meal and driving you nuts, you're gonna give them their damn Happy Meals and tell them to shut the hell up. At least that's how it is here. Again, I don't agree with it but it's just how it is :/

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Your resident grammar nazi :]

@Mossap,

It's obvious that you gave a lot of thought to your answer. There are other factors you may not know about.

Many poor neighborhoods don't have large grocery stores near-by to obtain those items. And, most of those poor people don't have cars either. Perhaps their work isn't near a grocery store and they are taking a bus. So, imagine taking two or more buses after working all day to go to a grocery store. Say your feet and body hurts, too. Say, there are average two loads of laundry a day and you don't have a washing machine or a dish washer. Say, you daily come home to a dangerous neighborhood that you just want to get home ASAP so taking a couple of hours to go and grocery shop can be dangerous. Not to mention, trying to carry three or four bags of groceries on the bus and worried about your purse being snatched, too.

Many of these neighborhood only have small, convinence store type mom/pop stores. They may sell fast food like fried chicken or ethnic fast food along side all the sweets and soda and chips.

Sometimes, because of a lack of money, food stamps are sold for cash to pay bills or clothes.

There are many different reasons that make it difficult to eat healthy when you are in a situation like this.

Then, sometimes, a person who knows about growing food gardens moves in the neighbood. They clear a local vacant lot and start growing food for the neighood. Many times they raise chickens for eggs and goats for milk and meat. Then, the owner of the vacant lot makes a headache for them and they lose their garden.

All of these are true stories I have seen in documentaries. Sometimes, people bring in a truck filled with fresh veggies and fruits and sell to people. But you have to be home and not working to be able to buy it.

I have not eaten any fast food for over four years. I know feel ill if I eat it or get good that has MSG and other chemicals in it. There are times I am tired or in pain and don't feel like cutting up veggies and making healthy food. But I know that if I eat commercial pizza or burgers I will feel ill later.

That's another posting just talking about all the chemicals in fast food and cheap food that can affect weight gain.

Not to mention the noise factor of living in a cramped apartment or noisy neighborhood and trying to sleep. Lack of sleep will affect weight gain, too.

If you neighborhood is dangerous, it's not safe to go out and go for walks or exercise either so you stay home and watch TV or do washing.

There are many factors involved and not an easy fix.

Poverty in North America/Europe and poverty in Africa/Asia are 2 different things, however

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she threw a pot at Precious and knocked up her head

Yeah, it was kind of a rhetorical question.

"My brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome."

THERE ARE NO SUPERMARKETS IN THE INNER CITY

"My brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome."

Not so fast. A poor person living in the inner city, especially a young girl, would be taking her very life in her hands to go running around the track outside. You're forgetting many of the poor people live in bad neighborhoods.

Anyway, if you were a poor person living in Precious's situation, what would be the point of getting in shape and losing weight? When you live in circumstances that grim and dire, and food makes you happy, wouldn't YOU eat? You keep saying it's so disgusting that someone would let themselves get to that point...well, I once weighed seventy pounds more than I do now. My father got sick with cancer and then died, and I ate and ate and ate, because it made me feel better. Even when I was doing it I knew I was really harming myself. But I didn't care...I just didn't want to feel so hopeless and empty for a few minutes. People who look at me now don't believe this ever happened, but it did, and I've been there. I know what it feels like not to care what you look like.

You talk about exercise and self discipline...sometimes your life circumstances puts that at the very bottom of your list of priorities. In Precious's mind, and people like her, surviving their situation is at the top of the list. Looking hot so she can attract some guy that will probably leave her with another baby is probably WAY at the bottom. Some people just don't live in the same world you do.

And BTW, you shouldn't eat Big Macs twice a day no matter how you look. You may look thin, but your veins are probably filled with saturated fat and you're about to drop dead of a heart attack. Exercise a little self discipline yourself, there. Thin does not equal healthy. Just food for thought.

Exactly OP... you have to look at their diet and lack of exercise. In the movie don't you remember when she stole a big bucket of greasy chicken?! And look at the food her mother had her cooking + her mother was encouraging her to be on welfare and be lazy like her! Did you see her mother doing Jane Fonda workout tapes?! No she was allways laying around the house! Fast food + no exercise= slow metabolism which leads to obesity! It doesn't take a genius to figure this out!


“Marriage is wild. After you say you do, you don't for a long time."
~John Leguizamo~

I always thought the reason why poor people were more likely to be overweight was that cheap food is usually bad food however, my opinion on this has changed. Schools have nutritional requirements they have to make and give free breakfasts and lunches to poor students. They are "somewhat" well balanced. I have seen salads, fruit, and milk or juice offered with an entree everyday here. People poor or rich, know what food is bad....

Getting food stamps? You could use them for fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and dairy instead of using them for crap.

If you ask me, food stamps are a waste of money since many people on it abuse it and buy crap with it. If people need food, there should only be direct food banks with healthy selections available.