Why do the poor become fat?

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We have Wal Mart and two other small grocery stores for food here. Wal Mart hurt their business for about the first month because everybody wanted to go there and check it out. Then the new wore off.

All three stores are within a two mile radius so convenience really isn't a factor. Price, selection and quality is. Most people n town do the same as I do when grocery shopping. Buy meat at Save More because they will cut things special for you if you ask and they will get what you want that they don't normally carry, like goose, duck and veal. Wal Mart meat comes prepackaged on a truck, and Piggely Wiggely meat is low quality.

Most people buy produce at Piggely Wiggely because the owner goes out every morning and buys it fresh from local people. It's much better than whats shipped in.

Wal Mart has the best prices and selection on canned goods, dry goods, dairy and lunch meats, so that's where most go for those. Also, some produce that Piggely Wiggely doesn't have is bought there.

The there is Dollar General, where most get paper products, cleaning products, etc. It's cheaper there for the same items that the other stores have.

So, Wal Mart hasn't driven anybody out of business. Both grocery stores and the dollar store are doing very well.

Also, within a hundred miles of here there is Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. I really doubt that us having a Wal Mart will drive the big stores out of business there.

As much as people want to hate on Wal Mart for whatever reasons they think may be true, it's not true in all cases. Not one single thing has closed here since Wal Mart opened except for KFC and that's because the owner died. I don't think Wal Mart killed him.

You're misreading again.
I didn't say it was the most EXPENSIVE place within hundreds of miles to get food.
I said it might be the ONLY place.


They are if an empty kitchen is the alternative, you'll find.


ROFL it also purportedly has an environmental protection agency- that doesn't mean the US isn't one of the largest polluters on Earth. xD
Six members of the Walton family have more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans COMBINED.


Good for you, you're better off for it. But (and you seem to be trouble grasping this concept) NOT EVERYONE IS YOU.
The question is about why poor people ARE disproportionately overweight.
In your eyes, are they simply disproportionately lazy and stupid?

There is no "mass transit" in the US apart from major cities, nor are fuel costs, adjusted to the mean income, low.

How does one buy "regular food", pray tell, when there are no stores selling it?


Right, so, according to you, poor people are just lazier than everyone else.

Wow.

Not if a store 3 miles from their home is the alternative and thus Walmart won't outcompete everything within a 100 mile radius. The only places in the US where you have to drive for hundreds of miles to get to a grocery store is outposts with a few hundred inhabitants near the Canadian border or in Alaska.



Money they got from the consumers. I support a tax increase for the richest people, though.

The US is the 3. most populous country in the world, the largest country in the world with a very high standard of living and the economically most significant country in the world. Of course it'll be in the top charts when it comes to pollution.

Compare Three Mile Island to the Bhopal, Minamata or Chernobyl disaster if you want to know where American politicians stand regarding pollution. American cars also had catalytic converters and were able to run on unleaded fuel before Asian or European cars were.



They're either lazy, undiciplined or suffer from some psychological issues.



There are no yellow cabs outside the major cities. The public bus system in the US is a just as good as the European system at lower fares and to top it of, even private bus coorporations have routes.

Americans pay less than half of what Europeans do for fuel—which is a generous offer, given that the US hardly has any oil reserves. Most Europeans can't afford a gas guzzling, V8 engined SUV, though, so maybe the fuel costs are even.



You look for a store that does sell it. Wherever there is a market for a grocery store, there is a grocery store. You then schedule your food shopping routine to match the train or bus routes and do tour food shopping once per week.



Depends. Most white people who are poor do not hold a degree and many are high school dropouts.

If you want to see really poor people, see how Eastern-Europe is handling the financial crisis.

Yes, of course.

I'm fat because I'm lazy and undisciplined and even suffer from psychological issues.
However my brother is also somewhat lazy, undisciplined as hell and also suffers from psychological issues however is skinny.

I suppose though that you don't know that they could be suffering from a multitude of physical illnesses that could make them fat?
For instance diabetes, or thyroid problems, just off the top of my head with what little superficial knowledge I have on the subject.
Or perhaps because they don't have the time or energy to work out after work, which may well have been nothing but sitting answering phone calls.



Incorrect.
My town has a small buss service that makes a trip into the nearest city that is 40 minutes away twice a day, once for drop off, once for pick up.
Which by the way costs somewhere between $5 and $7 for the round trip, it keeps going up.
It only runs in town and the twice a day trip to the city.
However, non of the 5 equally or larger sized towns within 30 miles has one.
Nor do any of the three cities within an hour, though they may have a form of taxi. I'm not entirely certain.
Having a buss service is a matter of luck.
I say bus service, but it only seats around 10 people and there is only 1.

As for gas prices, it costs me $10+ for a trip into the nearest city with gas constantly threatening the $4 mark.
Needles to say as a poor person I rarely go into town.


Most people who are poor period do not hold a degree because they can't afford the thousands in debt it will cost to even start to get one.
As for highschool dropouts, I dropped out 3 years early and I'm still smarter then 70% of the idiots our school system pumps out so that's not saying much.


Eating unhealthy is cheaper for me then healthy.
Of course if I would eat more rice, and the like I could eat healthier for the same price but then I would have to sit there and cook for an hour just to eat lunch.
I would also need a better knife, and a bigger pot and a new pan, a metal spatula...making healthier food is starting to sound expensive.
That is why I eat unhealthy and one of the reasons I am fat.

The point is, microwave dinners are cheap, fast and don't require any equipment aside from a microwave.
Making them very attractive to single parents and poor college students.

I bought a hot water boiler for $3.99 in brand new condition at Goodwill. Crockpots go for like $15 new. Hell, I can even cook spaghetti, rice and slow cooked soup in a coffee maker if I so chose. Almost all the hotplates at Walmart are under $30, and all the microwaves are about 70+. For all my cooking equipment, I've managed to find enough in the trash to have enough when I move out. But, Goodwill, and other thrift stores, usually have a fine assortment of cooking equipment for no money. A spatula would be about a buck. For brand new stuff, the dollar store is awesome, and there's usually dollar stores around in poor places. http://www.dollartree.com/kitchen-table ... hod=search Spatula! Knives cost like a buck at the dollar store, too. I just bought a knife sharpener for like $3 at harbor freight, and any knife that has metal will still be sharp enough to cook food with (even if it doesn't stay that way long) after I run it through the sharpener. Pans, I've seen at dollar stores (for admittedly crappy ones) for like 2 bucks. Used, though, through thrift stores, cheap as all hell. Like a buck each.

It comes down in Darwinian terms, to adaptability. The people who feel the need to adapt to overcome their surroundings win. If you let the surroundings win, you lose. I don't mean to be like, a dick, as I know what it is like to struggle, and sometimes advice seems impractical and it's all "Oh pull yourself up by the bootstraps and..." type of thing. But, when it comes down to it, we all must adapt, or die. In my case, I adapted...weirdly. I didn't earn more money to buy expensive cooking stuff, I just bought the cheapest stuff possible or scavenged it. So there's more than one way to adapt to overcome the problem, but the thing is, the problem must be overcome. I feel like with Aspergers, and a mix of my personality, I've been given the gift of unique insight into how to solve a problem. Most people wouldn't go use cookware from the trash, for example, but me, I'm totally cool with it. It works.

I guess as far as eating TV dinners, etc, goes, I look at the mindset of it as giving up. It's surrendering to what is trying to kill you, really. So in that sense it could be a mental issue.

Also, rice takes about 1/2 hour. And you can just sit on the computer and wait and just check it occasionally. And rice is significantly cheaper than TV dinners, unless it's Minute Rice. Rice costs 50c per lb dried, $1lb brown rice, one pound has like 5 cups dried, one cup is 3 servings (I'd eat all 3 servings in one meal usually, though.)

One last thing, regarding poorer areas. One good place to check out for food is ethnic markets. Asian, Indian, Hispanic, etc. They usually have better produce than grocery stores at a cheaper price.

In most cases, it's "or" and not "and".



People have different ways to cope.



Thyroid problems aren't that common and diabetes can be managed. I for instance know several people with diabetes who are normal weight and even athletic.



"A week has 168 hours; anyone who claims to not have five hours for exercising is a liar." -- Odd Haugen, who bench pressed 495 lbs unassisted at the age of 62.



The busses here don't go at all outside regular work hours.



Getting the same distance here is somewhere between 15 and 20 USD.



In other words, very cheap for a country with hardly any oil reserves. Gas here is 2.60 per liter, which translates to nearly 10$ per gallon--in a country with the 5. highest crude oil levels per capita and an economy almost entirely based on oil and natural gas.



High school is free and student loans are readily available for almost everyone.



I never claimed that you were stupid. However, you've only got yourself to blame for dropping out; not the rich people, not the conservatives, not George W. Bush and not the economic recession. High school is free and funded by the government.



Rice isn't really healthy. Cooking for an hour if you freeze the leftovers isn't really that big of a deal either.



Fast, but not cheap. Tuna sallad, homemade low-fat hamburgers, eggs and a lot of other options are cheaper.

I've just eaten lunch - two slices of toasted and buttered seeded bread, a poached egg, an apple, and a coffee. All for well under £1.

A microwave ready meal, or shop bought egg sandwich would have much more expensive, and only very slightly more convenient.

1000Knives
Yes like I said rice is a big money saver, but its also a pain to cook...especially when your stove only works on two setting "too hot" and "not hot enough".
Another great money saver is dried beans, but those are a huge pain to cook and take a whole night of forethought if you want to eat them.

There is a tiny little goodwill like store in town but all they have are cloths.
The one in the city however is still somewhat small but does have electronics, pots/pans and the such but are frankly overpriced for the most part and of poor quality.
To find anything worth value you really have to visit the place at least a few times a week.
Which is great for people who live there but I can't afford to go into town more then a few times a month.
Though I do have a fairly nice small pot I got there for I think $4 dollars once....and that was the day it was discounted.

Honestly you are right for me that I eat the way I do because I've pretty much given up over the last 5 years.
However some parents honestly can't afford the time to feed their children any better, which raises a bad line of habits for them to take into adulthood.
So it is not necessarily that case for everyone else.

PS. You should make sure you strop and wash your knife after sharpening it, otherwise with a cheap sharpener your getting tons of tiny bits of knife breaking off in your food.
Which may or may not be harmful in the long run, no clue. Certainly can't be good for you though.

Well for me its all of the above. I'm a whole lot a f****d up.


Though a large chunk aren't those people.


Yes, because everyone is exceptional, rises to the challenge and sticks to the peek of physical fitness.
That's like saying, you have no excuse for being stupid because Einstein was a genius.


Nor does the bus here.


Yes, because everyone should have thousands in debt that they may never be able to pay off because of a shaky economy.
I don't think you know how expensive it is to go to college in the US even the cheap crappy ones.


Who said I did?
I blame a broken school system, a total lack of support at home and an emotional breakdown thanks to my mother trying to get me institutionalized.


White rice isn't particularly healthy, brown rice is very healthy.




A microwave meal in the US is $1-$3 depending on the brand.
The meal you just had would be around $2 where I live or more if I burnt something.
Also, that is a tiny meal that would never fill my stomach.

It also didn't include a single vegetable.
The fact that you can get FOOD for cheap isn't in question-
it's whether it's low-calorie or not.
Bread and animal products ARE usually dirt-cheap because of subsidies.

Last edited by ValentineWiggin on 04 Sep 2012, 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Someone who makes broad assumptions about millions of individuals based on a few he personally knows is not going to see reason. The fatties are all lazy (and, by implication, the poor..and diabetic...and ethnic minorities....are EXCEPTIONALLY lazy), and that's that.

I think of fruit and veg as one food group, and my lunch yesterday included an apple. Also, I described only one meal - I eat carrots as snacks and have other vegetables as part of my evening meal.

My egg sandwich cost 28p for ingredients. To buy a ready-made egg sandwich from the same supermarket costs £1. My egg sandwich contains 310 calories, the supermarket sandwich contains 370 calories.

My point was that with a little effort, ie, taking the time and moving about a bit to make a sandwich in this case, rather than buying it ready made, you can eat well and cheaply.

As people are posting in this thread from various parts of the world, I don't think subsidy systems are very relevant. My comparison is based on buying ingredients or buying ready-made from one supermarket.

My egg sandwich could have been even cheaper by the way, as I prefer more expensive bread, and the eggs I buy are in the mid price range.

Straw maning again, are we?

Fat people have themselves to blame, whether the overeating is caused by mental issues, lack of knowledge or laziness.

There are many black Americans who are not fat, but who are still quite poor. What about them?

Most diabetics can get fit.



No, it's not. 99% of all people can reach normal weight levels; very few can learn to find solutions to old mysteries the way Einstein did.


Yes, because everyone should have thousands in debt that they may never be able to pay off because of a shaky economy.
I don't think you know how expensive it is to go to college in the US even the cheap crappy ones.[/quote]

An average American bachelor graduate has a student mortgage of 15,000 dollars—very little compared to what a college graduate actually earns. The shaky economy will be back on the track soon enough.



A school system where the government pays for you to go to a high-standard school is not dysfunctional.

I had an emotional breakdown, and went to a high school that's well below the American standard. Schools here don't have auditoriums, swimming pools, lockers for the students in the hallways, cafeterias where warm food is served or the ability to take driving lessons as a subject.




In moderate amounts. 3,000 calories in a vegetables only diet will make most people fat; 3,000 calories in a high protein diet won't.

I'm frankly not going to argue with someone that thinks there isn't a single medical reason someone might be fat.
Because that makes them delusional, and trying to prove to someone delusional that what they think is wrong is like trying to bash through a solid brick wall with my skull.

The average American bachelor graduate doesn't get a job.
Especial when he went to a 4 year collage that cost 3,750 a year...mostly because no collage in America costs nearly that little.
Your lucky to find one that has tuition alone for that much, in fact my brother went to a community college for 1 year and he has at least $6,000-$8,000 in debt that I know of.
To come out of the other end with $15,000 in debt you'd have to be going to a bottom of the barrel bare bones 3 year community college.



What the hell does a swimming pool, auditoriums, lockers, and drivers education have to do with a proper curriculum?
None of my schools had pools by the way and the "auditoriums" were always basketball courts, because god forbid a school not have a basketball team. -,-
Most of the schools in America are jokes.
Many don't have the money or teachers to properly teach the children that get thrown at them.
Special programs aside unless you are the type of kid that can read a book, hear a lecture and completely learn a subject you don't get taught.


Not to be, well yah to be offensive you clearly don't know anything about the US.
Whether it be its economy, its jobs, or its schools.
Further, you don't know crap about proper schooling if you think lockers and swimming pools make for better math teachers.
I will even wager you don't know much about diets either as 3,000 calories a day will make anyone who is not active fat.

Delusional? The market economy moves in conjunctures; it always has done and always will do. Even in low conjunctures, the lives of poor Americans (who still have more food than they need, a roof over their heads and gas prices less than half of everyone else) ae still better than the lives of 80—90% of the world's population.



52% of all graduates in the US are either unemployed or underemployed with a bachelor's degree. This rate is significantly lower in fields such as teaching, science or economics, but somewhat higher in easier fields such as art history, social studies or history. Allthough small, chances that you'll get a job with a bachelor's degree in history is still higher than in Europe.

In Europe, 80—90% of all college graduates with a bachelor's degree is either unemployed or underemployed six months after they graduate (87% in Norway). Student loans of 60,000 dollars are not uncommon here. Some master's degrees in easier subjects won't get you a job at all either.




I have sources that back up my claims. Ask and I shall give them to you.



Then why do Americans have equally high IQs as Europeans?



Nor do European schools, where the material standard is lower. People skilled in math use their abilities to get a degree in science or economics rather than math, because the salaries are higher. It's like this in every single continent on the earth.



A raw protein diet of 3,000 calories is as fattening IN THEORY as 1,800 calories of raw carbohydrates.

I know a lot about economy; enough to laugh when Americans complain about gas prices or the food prices.

...Okay...so...fruits and vegetables are likewise afterthoughts for you, and you have access to a supermarket, unlike those living in food deserts. If I understand correctly.