One of my favorite talk radio personalities is fairly right wing. But, I listen to him primarily for entertainment value. He frequently makes the point that one of the leading health problems among the poor in our society is obesity. Anybody know if this is true?
__________________
"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
I don't know if it's true on not, but I've seen a lot of fat people paying with food stamps.The shame of it is, in other parts of the world people are starving to death, while we in American are eating ourselves to death!
I would have to agree with the talk host.
Obesity can often involve the wrong foods and lack of exercise. And many of the folks who you see who are overweight can be anemic or suffer other types of malnutrition. Ignorance and idleness can be great causes of obesity.
Some of the obesity is due to poor eating habits, which can be inherited. If you don't work as a field hand its probably best not to eat like a field hand.
I, too, think the radio host may have some issues as to poor folks. Rich people in ***an got blood diseases because they could afford polished rice, and not get the nutrients that the poor received in their regular rice. So hemophilia became a disease of the ***anese rich.
In the US, lack of money doesn't mean you get skinny. Obesity, poor dental health and other behavior-related health conditions are all endemic in the poorer communities.
Being poor is no longer associated with starvation, that's for sure. I think it is true from the reports I've heard, and should be a message for obese people to diet and exercise, much like Obama's comments to fathers of black people to be there for their children. Instead of attacking the messenger of such factual comments, listeners should strive to change it around. I'm not poor, and am not obese, but I need to focus on cardio myself, as I have heart disease on my father's side pretty bad. If somebody called me fat, I'd take that as incentive to jog regularly.
Just take a walk around Wal-Mart and then take a walk around an expensive shopping mall. Looks that way to me. I think you will find the same association with smoking. Statistically speaking, more poor people are obese and smokers than rich people are obese and smokers. I can only speculate what the reasons for this disparity may be, but I am happy to do so. To some extent, smoking and obseity are results of our choices. Poor choices -- such as to begin smoking to start with or to not quit smoking once started -- are sometimes a hall mark of poor people, although not always. Poor people may come from backwards, isolated areas that have not gotten the message about the damages of smoking and/or just are too bullheaded to change. Similarly with obesity, poor people may make poor choices when it comes to choosing what kinds of food to eat and/or may have learned what they know about food choices growing up in backwards areas. Before I am beaten up for such execrable and insulting views, consult a heart attack map and see if there isn't a concentration in the area of South Central Oklahoma . . . .then take a drive through this area. Lots of overweight people. I think it is because their local cooking traditions emphasize fried food oozing in fat and grease.
On the other hand, poor people may have less time to exercise, less resources to pay for work out facilities (most of my working out is outdoors running in the public park and indoors doing lunges, push-ups, siti-ups, and work with 25 LBS dumb-bells that are not out of the financial reach of most poor people, I speculate). Additionally, possibly their food choices are limited by their financial resources. Even so, however, I think much of the problem involves choice -- choosing to eat fast food, choosing to eat a lot of fried food.
Obesity is strongly asociated with several major killers -- heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer. For everyone, it is worth investing in the value of your own life by (1) quitting smoking if you do smoke; (2) minding what you eat, and (3) exercising regularly. You will live longer and have a better quality of life. It is your choice. There is no time like the present to begin.
Alsatian nailed it. There is a very heavy concentration of obese folks in south central OK. There is also a very heavy concentration of obese folks in WV. Much of it comes from poor folks making some very bad food buying decisions. There is also a lack of exercise.
Back again. Had to run and tend to a rack of ribs on the grill. They sure were good. That is why folks eat them in excess-and get fat.
There is a lot of family and regional tradition in food, hence the problem in SC OK.A high fat diet was OK solong as folks worked theirbutts off every day. Formostfamilies, really hard work ended a few generations ago. Unfortunately, the family diet did not change. The family continued to eat Grand Ma's pecan pie and all those great meat dishes.
Every couple of weeks I meet with some guys for breakfast. Weeat all the good stuff: Fried eggs, fried potatoes and bacon, sausage or ham, sometimes all of the above. Difference is that I do it every two weeks and they do it every day.
A couple of them are predisposed to be lean and they stay that way in spite of their diet. A couple others are much too heavy and do not get enough exercise.
Well being from the south, and having made more than my share of trips to the north, I can honestly say that the food as a whole gets better tasting the closer you get to the Gulf of Mexico. I know first hand that the poor folks in Mississippi have made it a priority to take advantage of that fact. Who cares about the other basic necessities of life when you can afford an all-you-can-eat catfish buffet.
C. Davis
__________________ Am I greedy because I don't want to give you what is mine?
or
Are you greedy because you want to take what is not yours?
If true, kind of ironic
