Fat and broke, and getting fatter: the Healthy Americans new study showing that no state dropped in obesity rate last year and 38 states are over 25% obese.
But undiscussed is income: it’s a major driver of the obesity epidemic, because calorie-rich food is cheap and getting cheaper. Over 35 percent of adults who earn under $15,000 a year are obese, but only 24.5 percent in the over-$50,000 per year.
Yes, this is also education, and ethnicity: poor urban neighborhoods too often are unsafe places to play, and have too few fruits and vegetables for sale.
Several people have made this connection already: Suze Orman has dedicated this CNBC season to “health and wealth”, and has linked out-of-control finances and out-of-control weight, and though I’m not a FICO score expert, I do know that people who have less money to spend (i.e., nearly everyone) are more mindful about what their dollars can buy.
And it’s no secret that calories are cheap: when you can buy 800 calories for $1 (2 liter soda) and the graph below shows cheap fast food, it’s no wonder. As fast food has gotten cheaper, healthier foods have gotten more expensive.
But there is a cure: it’s learning to cook (even wealthy and famous people are doing it: Kristen Stewart makes her own 6 hour marinara); and it’s eating SOUL (sustainable, organic, unprocessed, local…grown yourself) food.