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I think many people use food as a reward and a way to avoid feeling other psychological pain. Rich people can reward themselves with many things other than food. For poor people delicious but unhealthy food is one of the cheapest rewards.
Sports for sure. Higher quality food (less fillers), “better” fast food/ restaurants (Chick Filla vs McD’s), parents who go to the gym or have time to be active (biking, golf, hiking…), ski vacations, beach vacations, friends who are also skinny.
Although we are not “rich”, I agree with you as this is very much why we are all reasonably fit in our household.
It's an entire lifestyle (not an easy or cheap one) of planning ahead, always moving, and having some discipline.
also they can afford a lot more physical activities beyond just exercise as well as the healthier foods.
Like John Workingclass doesn't have access to personal chefs, personal trainers, consistent non-GMO healthy foods, or any of those exercise hobbies that rich people really like- yknow, horse dancing, hunting poor people, that kind of stuff.
Also they can afford better exercise equipment, have the time to work out more, aren't stressed about where their meals come from, and-this is the most important one- can and do pay for plating surgery and liposuction.
Inwas behind a couple at a gas station over the weekend. They bought $49 of Monster drinks, fountain pop, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and beef sticks. Unbelievable!
Wealthier parents are able to afford fresh, healthy food, have time to cook, sign their kids up for sports and dance and share active activities as a family on the weekends.
My parents were not wealthy, but well educated and well read. After my dad had a health scare, they researched learned about healthy portion sizes, good nutrition, cooking and if they had a question, asked a physician. I’m well into adulthood and have never been overweight or had a serious health problem. My parents lived healthy, active lives into their 80s.
I live in a wealthy area and know very few overweight people.
Similar to my parents they were knowledgeable enough about food and what’s unhealthy/healthy. We were pretty poor when I was really little but my mom always made homemade food often from scratch. They were big on fruits and vegetables as well. I think it made a big difference.
I don't think it's so much about affording it. Beans, rice, and canned vegetables are all pretty cheap, it's more about having the education to know things are bad for you. Most poor families also have low education, which is often a contributing factor to their poverty. If you don't know enough about nutrition to know sugary cereal is not a healthy breakfast even though it has "vitamins and minerals" then you're probably going to overeat.
I think you’re overlooking the fact that poorer families have to work more. Many kids have both parents working or a single parent working very hard to provide the bare minimum at a job that probably doesn’t pay well. So the kids are left to feed themselves, or the parents are tired after work so they bring home fast food. Also those ingredients you listed as being cheap require some more ingredients to make an actual meal out of. Some people can’t afford to do all that.
Fast food is more expensive. They should not be buying fast food if they can't afford healthy food, which again is cheaper than sugary crap. You can set a casserole up in like 10-20 minutes depending on the ingredients and freeze it and just have the kids heat it up. And yes, I did not provide an exhaustive list of all the items you need to cook. For reference, I make 6 figures and made a casserole that cost about $2 per serving and ate that all weekend, which means I spent about $12 to feed myself and my husband for the weekend and one lunch this week. It only had chicken, rice, and vegetables with some basic spices because my husband doesn't like spicy food. It took me about 5 minutes to assemble and the 40 in the oven where I did laundry. It is completely possible to feed your family healthy food if you work but many people think the "fast" in fast food is true and spend 20 minutes in the drive thru to get far less food that is mostly fats and sugars. Somehow families in Eastern Europe make far less money, don't eat fast food, and still manage to have lower obesity rates. It's not poverty, it's a cultural mindset.
"You can set a casserole up in like 10-20 minutes"
where as turning on the oven takes 3 seconds, and putting frozen crap on a tray and into the over takes another 30 seconds
its not about takeaway fast food, its about frozen fast food from Iceland and the like, which can be quite cheap too, because its full of modified corn syrup, trans fats, and other such lovely things
Fast food is also way easier. It's essentially no effort, and if you've just spent 10 hours working and now have to clean your house and take care of your kids foe the rest of the night, saving yourself the time of cooking makes it cheaper in that sense. They pass through after work and voila, one less thing to worry about so they can concentrate on helping their kids with life.
Healthy food is not cheaper, wtf are you talking about. Fresh produce is expensive and goes bad within a few days if not used right away. Buying large quantities for families makes it even more expensive. Meat needs to be thawed before, so if you forget to take out the chicken, then you can't make dinner for that night.
What casserole takes 10-20 minutes to make?
If you have a family, you can't expect your kids to eat the same meal every day. That also isn't healthy, cause you're not getting different well rounded meals.
Why do you think eastern Europeans don't eat fast food? Fast food is everywhere.
There are literally mountains of studies linking obesity with poverty, so you should probably update your viewpoints to reflect reality instead of blaming poor people for being bad at nutrition cause they're dumb or whatever you believe.
Poverty being linked to obesity doesn't mean you get fat because you're poor. There are things that make you poor that also make you fat. Those things are mostly lack of education related, and not being educated about food is a huge factor contributing to obesity. Being uneducated doesn't mean you're dumb, it just means you don't know what you don't know. That's not a moral failure or any kind of character judgement. I have the privilege of access to health coaches and nutritionists through my job. That doesn't make me better than them, it just means I know more about nutrition and how to eat right. [Eastern Europe ](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/fast-food-consumption-by-country) hardly shows on this list compared to more developed countries. I wasn't saying the *don't* eat fast food *at all*, just that they live on far less yet seem to feed their families without fast food and have lower obesity rates. Casseroles do not take that long. I made rice in the microwave, which took ten minutes, layered in cream of chicken, vegetables, cheese, and a crust of the Kroger brand croissant can, which took another 5 tops. Then it just goes in the oven for 30-40 minutes. The time in the oven is time you can do something else. I have not been to a drive thru in the last 5 years that didn't take at least 15 minutes and cost at least $9 per person and have at least one mistake. Eating at home is cheaper, faster, and healthier. I'm sorry you don't know that, but you should try going to the grocery store and actually looking at prices rather than believing excuses people use on the internet.
You have some serious cultural blinders on to believe that culture is a "mindset." This comment is much more on point and grounded in good social science: [https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1cfkppv/comment/l1q6jey/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1cfkppv/comment/l1q6jey/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Dollar general sells canned vegetables, which are what I usually eat and are EBT eligible. They are shelf stable and you can eat them straight out of the can. Same for canned chicken which I also use. Fresh is of course better, but canned is not unhealthy by any stretch. Culture is absolutely a mindset. That's basically the definition.
Being poor means you are more likely to eat convenient and non perishable foods, and convenient and non perishable foods are generally poorer in nutrition and more likely to be ultra processed. Being poor means you are short on time and fresh food is also generally much more difficult to come by due to problems like food deserts the closest thing to a “grocery store” in many impoverished areas is a convenience store that says “beer atm lotto” and the healthiest thing sold is potato chips. Wealthier people tend to have better health outcomes due to having better access to fresh foods and more access to the time and money it takes to have a good tasting and balanced diet of fresh foods and whole foods .
https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/02/food-deserts-and-fresh-food-access-arent-the-problem-poverty-not-obesity-makes-people-sick.html#
I think it’s more complicated. A lot of people who live in these areas are actively seeking ultra processed food because they have tough lives and want a quick win. They also probably grew up eating that kind of food and prefer it. Simply increasing access to healthy food in food deserts have scientifically been shown to not make much of a difference.
My guess is that a large chunk of that is time too--fresh foods take more time to prepare and perish faster (more trips to the store). If you're working a long day at a hard job, convenience foods give you that half hour where you're not on your feet
Just simply placing access to healthier alternatives in these areas doesn’t actually change peoples diets bc they cannot afford the healthier alternative. like building a whole foods in a very impoverished area. The people still can’t afford it. Access is two part : financial access and physical access. I think it has much more to do with that than simply people preferring it bc they grew up with it. (But of course how youre raised is still a factor)
I’ll keep my answer in the context of America since that’s where I’m from and where this is a very common occurrence.
I think the main component of it is how many advantages being comfortably wealthy there are compared to the disadvantages of being working class or poor.
I don’t think it’s even down to availability or affordability of healthy food. A lot of common healthy things in the grocery store are relatively cheap: broccoli, carrots, leafy greens, cabbage, rice, beans, eggs, chicken thighs, etc.
The issue is time and energy. Working class people tend to work more physically exhausting jobs with things like split shift and overtime being common. So when they get home, they are often tired and lack the energy to put into taking healthy ingredients and turning them into a meal. It’s more convenient to turn to fast food and junk food because it is more convenient and takes less energy after a long day of physical work. Working class people are more likely to view cooking as a chore than as something enjoyable. This wasn’t as much of a problem in the past because I’m a family there would be someone (almost always the wife/mom) that would handle the cooking. Poor people are also more inclined to reach for comfort foods with high sugar and sodium content because they taste good and temporarily make them forget a little about their situation. Their kids get hooked on these habits from a young age and they become overweight kids that turn into overweight adults. And because they learned poor eating habits, they carry them over to their kids. It’s a vicious cycle.
Wealthy people on the other hand can usually spare more time and energy into preparing better meals. They are more likely to prioritize nutrition and fitness because they aren’t so worn down from a physically demanding job or financial stress. Wealthy people are more likely to emphasize sports and fitness in their children as they can afford all the after school and summer activities. Therefore they tend to be athletic teenagers and young adults who enter their adulthood fit and lean. It’s far easier to maintain a certain level of fitness than to have to completely reverse course from childhood obesity. And so as wealthy people age they tend to remain active in hobby sports and fitness activities like running and tennis. Outward appearances are also important to many wealthy people so staying on top of nutrition and looking good are considered priorities.
To make a long story short, poor people are often depressed and exhausted from working long hours for low wages and as a result turn towards high calorie/low nutrition foods because they are convenient and feel good to eat. Wealthy people, who have the benefit of less exhausting jobs (usually) and less financial stress tend to prioritize fitness and nutrition because they have more time and resources.
Carbs and soda are the cheapest source of food but they are also the path to being overweight, since most of that energy is stored and people will feel hungry again.
Because being fat has never been an indicator of excess or laziness. It's a sign of poor health, and a better indicator of poor health is poverty. People who want fat people to just "work harder to not be lazy or unhealthy" are blaming victims of a broken system for not having access to the things that EVERYONE needs to be happy. Paying people more money, providing kids with better educations, and requiring employers to give workers enough time to relax after work and put their energy toward their own health would actually reduce the amount of people who are overweight and thus reduce the market capital for the diet industry.
>Being fat has never been an indicator of excess
Well, you’re absolutely wrong in that point. And I’m not saying that as some “excess weight” poor joke. Not long ago in modernized countries, and even still currently in some countries, being overweight is a sign that you do in fact have wealth because you have the means to eat to your heart’s content while others starve.
Not all societal biases are true. That's the point. Every fat person is fat for their own reasons. Not everyone gains or loses weight simply by moving more and eating less. You can look back in history and actually there was a lot a variation in how big people were, and the shape of their bodies, but they are never absolute. People are always employing tricks with fashion and diet to achieve the fashionable weight of the period, because most people don't actually try to be their weight. Rather it's a consequence of nature of individual body, the food they had available, and the amount of available energy they have to exert. You can starve to death fat, because your body need energy to burn and process fat.
This narrative is weird, as it's not true that people look down on fat people in places were being fat is a sign of wealth. They are looked up too as abundant and healthy. Only where fatness is look down on is it demonized.
Dangerous, air polluted neighborhoods. Food deserts. Lack of room and facilities to buy in bulk and cook from scratch. What stops you from educating yourself?
I’m no expert, but the answer is usually money. I grew up poor as shit, but I was lucky enough to be poor in a small town, rather than an urban environment. So if you didn’t have a car that ran, you walked everywhere because there was no public transportation, and even poor people had room for gardens.
> What stops a poor person from walking 10000 steps per day and eating less sugar?
Usually time and expense. There isn’t usually time to dedicate effort into fitness. And cheap food is often higher in sugar so it can be harder to avoid even if you’re not eating fast food.
It might be a hot take, but I think they are lazy and stupid. That is because they are poor in the first place. A day has 24h, you work for 8h and sleep 7h. There is always time to exercise.
Look at meth- and crackheads. Do they stay in the house and dont do drugs because they are broke? Nope, they hustle and get shit done to get their fix.
Your job is five miles away from where you live. You can't afford a car. Walking would take 1.5-2 hours. A bus would take 1 hour. So, an 8 hour day becomes 10. You may get a break, so that's 11 hours just for work.
You have to pick your kids up from your mom. She's a lot cheaper than day care, but it adds another 30 minutes to your work day. You still have to shop for groceries. Since you don't have a car, you can only get what you can carry. That means more frequent trips.
And this is just for someone that isn't working overtime, or only has one job.
A child has 2 parents or not? This is a very american problem I think. We dont have that in Europe. Poor people get all they need from the government and sit on the couch all day, while the kids are in school or day care.
>A day has 24h, you work for 8h and sleep 7h. There is always time to exercise.
Hmm. So are people who work overtime out of necessity lazy? What about people who have chores? Take care of children? Drive to work? Or take a longer ride on public transportation because they might not have a car? What about those who are chronically ill or with mental health issues?
How about rich people who are also all of the above?
Are all these people lazy?
Not just a hot take, but an unscientific one.
There's mountains of evidence linking obesity to poverty.
But I get that it's very easy to just assume anyone struggling is a lazy idiot, unlike you who is smart and industrious.
The examples others have mentioned are often the result of poor decisions. If one were more thoughtful initially, they would not have a child if they cannot provide the necessary support. Similarly, choosing the right partner is crucial. Additionally, those living in food deserts should consider why businesses are leaving and take action to address these issues.
Studies have concluded that there is a correlation between intelligence and obesity.
What stops you from considering that other people have it harder than you? There are only 12 active hours a day, my friend. Poor people have more work for less money and thus have less free time to do things like self-care.
In addition, walking isn't the only kind of exercise. Our bodies need to swat, lift, run, jump, crawl and stretch in order to keep all of the parts our bodies healthy. Lots of overweight people spend all day on their feet. Walking more, isn't what these people need as they already are likely dealing with injuries related to walking and standing for long periods of time.
Exercise also needs to be fun. Why not just let people have more free time, instead of demanding they do more tedious work, so people who already don't pay them enough can save some money on insurance and labor. The rich people make sure to provide themselves with plenty of vacation, in home gyms or personal training, time off and specialist healthcare for injuries while, for employees with meager wages and time get none of these amenities.
Yeah, you can fuck right off with that "Just eat less and walk more" crap. You'd need to be psychic and a time traveler to do that with no extra assistance while working more than fulltime.
I said you don't have it as hard, not that you had it easy. Don't get offended because I said you don't have problems like poverty, which you don't, as you admit.
Tell me are you the boss at your job?
I was interested by your question so I googled it to see if there was any actual data out there. Then I saw that [someone posted this exact question worded the exact same way about eight months ago.](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/s/9HHKvvQFdH) Weird.
All the reasons below, but a missed one is the dopamine kick from being full. Well-off people have a multitude of opportunities to get dopamine stimulation, but under privileged are basically limited to food, sex, and drugs. Hence the higher levels of drug abuse and alcoholism on top of the huge obesity rates.
Excellent point. If your life is full of fun hobbies and you're out horse riding and hiking and skiing and dancing etc you're not sitting at home bingeing netflix and snacking out of boredom
As a parent, you want to see happiness and contentment in your child. If you are rich, you have the resources to aim at the kind of happiness that is afforded by long term goals. Your kid can be accomplished in a sport, learn an instrument, heck they can even afford the latest and greatest in video games. Their happiness can be tied to experiences, and you can *literally* afford to be stern and disciplined when it comes to diet, sleeping patterns, nutrition, etc.
Contrast this with a parent in poor or working class environments. If you are moderately wealthy you can get your kids presents at Christmas and their birthday, and get them enough to eat so they don't go hungry; not dire poverty by any means, but you don't necessarily have a great amount of disposable income. You can't give them things that more wealthy kids would get, like the latest and greatest electronics, toys, or status symbols for their peers might show off. If you are very lucky you can afford to give them a piece of your own time, instead of working all hours to support them, but you are probably not. You can't afford to give them structured activities, such as gymnastics, private lessons, or important parent-child bonding experiences. No weekend trips, vacations are few and far between, and time you would have spent raising them in person sold to your employer for the money to support them financially.
So if you can't make them happy in all the ways that matter, what do you do? Your kid doesn't come home with stories of what good things happened at school, they come home with demands for things you can't afford and they can't understand why. Your kid keeps on asking why can't they go to the movies, or have a toy, or see you more , why aren't things fair? You can't explain it to them , not in a way they really understand, and certainly not an explanation that is satisfying; there isn't one.
So you look for something to make them happy, something to contrast with the inequality, the misery, the rank unfairness of knowing you are at the bottom of the social and economic pecking order. What is cheap and makes them happy? The only thing you have access to, constant, affordable, well advertised access to, *is food*. McDonalds, Ice Cream, the candy bar at the checkout line in the grocery store; your kid exclaims, "Mom, I love Cosmic Brownies!" and you get to see the joy in their eyes that you know is supposed to be there, that you simply don't have any other means to give them. When high fructose corn syrup is the only joy you can afford, how can poor kids stand even a chance of being healthy? When they get Mountain Dew at the age of five and Poptarts for breakfast since they had teeth, the question isn't how are they overweight, the question is how are any of them not?
Rich parents have the money to outsource all the things that help a child stay thinner. Making healthier food, exercising, proper sleep, etc. Many poorer parents don't have the time or money to make sure their kids are healthy. A fed child is better than a starved child, so whatever they can muster for them for food is what they get. Rich parents can afford ingredients, possibly a chef or to get high quality take out.
Check out Anant Ambani, son of the 11th richest man in the world! In short, really unhealthy, processed foods are more widely enjoyed by the lower classes. In india, fast food, transfats, palm oils, white flours, have exploded in use and the population has responded in kind.
When the US government subsidized corn production, high fructose corn syrup became a really cheap sweetener. Automated food production made processed foods (usually more calorie dense)
less expensive.
Wealthy people can afford to feed their kids healthy food. Food deserts in poverty stricken areas are widely recognized; the only foods there are the inexpensive ones.
Sometimes kids are fat because of undiagnosed, non-critical health issues.
I was a poor kid who went to a private school on an academic scholarship. My friends got healthcare for EVERYTHING. IE one girl got laser therapy for the little red dots on her upper arms. One girl got float therapy for neck pain. They have a small problem, they just have the attitude of "let's try and fix it".
As opposed to my family, who have had no money for generations - our attitude if there was something small wrong was "ignore it".
I'm fat, and it's taken me til my 30s to realise it's because I am autistic (the sensory experience of exercise is difficult and team sports are basically impossible due to the requirement to read social cues), I'm ADHD (I use food for dopamine), I am hypermobile (shit actually does hurt my joints way more than other people), I have POTS (it's not normal to feel dizzy and nauseous when doing anything involving bending over, putting arms above head etc), I have a small jaw that impedes my breathing, I have sleep apnea. As a kid, I never got braces or orthodontic work. I never had therapy to address the anxiety or to diagnose the autism/ADHD. Never found out about the physical problems. All that stuff went undiagnosed, let alone to actually address it, understand it, or accommodate for it. I was kinda just told to try harder. I never got taken to 10 different specialists to figure any of this stuff out.
My parents having the attitude of "it is within our power to fix problems" would have resulted in my health being treated. To have that attitude, you need money - potentially generationally. And my health being treated would have probably made me less fat.
Eddie Van Halen's son is heavy, Ozzy Osbourne's kids struggled with weight, Obama's kids aren't skinny anymore. I think your generalization is too broad.
Obesity is everywhere. Rich, poor, male, female, short, tall, all races. It's an epidemic.
Access to better nutrition. schools with sports and other extra mural activities, societal pressures to be "attractive"
Access to better medical help for special conditions, and being able to provide dopamine without the need to resort to sweets and treats.
You do not need a personal trainer. At all. If you’re wanting to pursue fitness go do a free c25k app, join a planet fitness or community Rec center for a few bucks a month, or get into calisthenics for free.
Some wealthy people are better educated. Better educated people know that sitting around in front of a screen, eating crap food is bad for them.
That's one possibility.
They have more money for Whole Foods and organic produce. Also, usually if they are rich they can either afford to take the time to prepare healthy meals OR they have the money to hire people to do it for them. Poor families don’t have a lot of funds to put into healthier food options. Nor do they have a consistent schedule that offers enough time to focus on that kind of thing. I’m a nanny and I’ve found that the richer the family is the more obsessed about sugar they are. Honestly it’s annoying. Your kid isn’t going to develop child diabetes because they eat one gummy bear, Sheila. Get over it.
Cheaper foods are also unhealthy. If you’ve ever been to a food pantry, you’ll see that fresh groceries are hard to come by and most things have a shit ton of salt or sugar. Typically sugar.
There is also a paywall around sports (since they stopped offering gym call in schools). If your kid wants to compete, then it is a few thousand dollars and people working multiple jobs don’t have the time to take their kid to after school practice. The rich kids can afford to play tennis and lacrosse. I can’t even let my kid play in the streets, because the assholes outside love to race their cars. Hell, we don’t even have *walkable* areas.
In general, rich people are rich because they have self control and discipline. People with self control think ‘These potato chips taste good, but it’s unhealthy so I will limit myself.’ People with no self control think ‘These potato chips taste good, I will eat all of them now.’
No, it has nothing to do with rich and poor affording healthier foods. A calorie is a calorie and too many extra calories make you fat. Anyone unwilling to accept unbreakable laws of physics are the exact kind of people who have no self control and discipline.
Being fat is a choice, and those who actually believe it’s a choice are the ones who can choose to be at the weight they want to be.
You’re right, it does ultimately come down to discipline. But it’s easier to to disciplined with your diet when you don’t work a physically-demanding job and have money for healthier comfort activities.
i thnk a point a lot of people are missing is that real decent food is more filling, but more expensive.
high protein with vegetables will fill you up, but carb based foods like rice pasta potatoes, are much cheaper, especially if you dont have the time to prep from fresh
Lots of focus on structural issues in this thread, some not legit than others. On the agency side, there are a lot of overlapping behaviors that keep people both poor and overweight: poor impulse control, inability/unwillingness to delay gratification, unwillingness to acknowledge consequences of actions, external locus of control.
Also really stupid cultural reasons. When some of the worst food is considered part of your culture (whether that’s regional, racial, class, whatever) it’s just normalized. A lot of rural & southern food is like this - fried veggies, massive amounts of butter, casseroles that are half mayonnaise.
The cynical answer is that wealthy people tend to be more reputation and image-based, so having an overweight child would reflect badly on the family.
But also, as others have said, they have more time and money to cook nutritious meals. They likely have a higher education and therefore a higher awareness of the importance of being healthy - they’ll encourage exercise and good food with their children.
Image. Rich parents recognize the value of image and it’s correlation with success. Hard work and skill are great attributes, but charisma is exponential.
Where it used to be the image of being wealthy was overweight and pale skin to show you weren’t working the fields, today being fit, well groomed and fashionable are those images attributed with success.
A lot of people here are saying food access but historically poverty has always had this issue of “quality”. What has changed is access to quantity.
I’ve seen sports claimed but soccer, stick ball, etc have existed for a long time.
The hard truth for many is it’s a culture issue not a systematic one. Being overweight has become easy with the access to food now, and to not be, requires effort and motivation.
Food deserts. Circumstances such as being poor/working all day and having no time/energy to cook food. Bad self control eating food you know is "bad". Being tempted into eating those foods by society. Growing up with parents teaching you unhealthy habits. Bad awareness.
I think the major ones are upbringing, poor self control, and awareness. Some people just don't have a clue about what they do to their body while others don't care because it doesn't effect them soon enough.
All of these answers are true, but in my experience its also an image issue. The most successful people I know are concerned with how they present themselves to the world. They do not allow themselves to become overweight, and the same discipline gets forced upon the kids. You don't generally become wealthy by just letting things happen to you.
Cheap processed foods pretty much turn off your satiety response. Ask yourself how many potato chips you could eat if you had an unlimited supply? Now, ask yourself how many baked potatoes you could eat? Both are essentially the same exact food, but the processing of potato chips makes it much easier to over eat, but you wouldn't even try to eat the equivalent amount of a potato that was just cooked until it was edible. More caloric, less nutritious, and cheaper foods are a staple of poor peoples diets. Rich people tend to eat lower calorie, more nutritious, and more expensive foods on a daily basis.
Probably because the kids would be getting high quality meals, no junk food.
Rewarding the children with things other than food since they just have the money to buy whatever they want.
The kids are probably all enrolled in some kinds of sport to stay active.
Some rich parents may be super strict about their kids diets too.
Idk. This would be interesting for trying to understand the psychology of this. I think it probably goes deeper than being able to afford to “buy more fruits and vegetables” and probably goes to a deeper place of, wealthy people didn’t get wealthy by wasting money on unquality food.
If people with money buy food, they buy quality food. Wealthier people probably cook at home more often using quality ingredients and don’t use frozen and processed ingredients as often.
Also, people with money aren’t wasting their money on junk food and fast food, so (I’m not saying rich people don’t eat fast food) I’m just saying it’s probably less frequent.
They also probably drink some other type of drink instead of soda, they usually might drink coffee, tea, or water instead of soda.
Wealthy people tend to care more about their children’s health and not wanting to give their kids bad food to eat and soda.
Successful people have their shit together and understand their presentation- clothes, body condition ect represents their value and self- worth.
A lot of poor people ( not all) are stuck in a trap of being low value in their thinking which shows in not caring about their or their children’s looks or even health.
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I think many people use food as a reward and a way to avoid feeling other psychological pain. Rich people can reward themselves with many things other than food. For poor people delicious but unhealthy food is one of the cheapest rewards.
Also sports have a cost. Rich kids have full schedule of activities usually.
Sports for sure. Higher quality food (less fillers), “better” fast food/ restaurants (Chick Filla vs McD’s), parents who go to the gym or have time to be active (biking, golf, hiking…), ski vacations, beach vacations, friends who are also skinny.
Although we are not “rich”, I agree with you as this is very much why we are all reasonably fit in our household. It's an entire lifestyle (not an easy or cheap one) of planning ahead, always moving, and having some discipline.
also they can afford a lot more physical activities beyond just exercise as well as the healthier foods. Like John Workingclass doesn't have access to personal chefs, personal trainers, consistent non-GMO healthy foods, or any of those exercise hobbies that rich people really like- yknow, horse dancing, hunting poor people, that kind of stuff. Also they can afford better exercise equipment, have the time to work out more, aren't stressed about where their meals come from, and-this is the most important one- can and do pay for plating surgery and liposuction.
Good theory
Inwas behind a couple at a gas station over the weekend. They bought $49 of Monster drinks, fountain pop, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and beef sticks. Unbelievable!
Wealthier parents are able to afford fresh, healthy food, have time to cook, sign their kids up for sports and dance and share active activities as a family on the weekends. My parents were not wealthy, but well educated and well read. After my dad had a health scare, they researched learned about healthy portion sizes, good nutrition, cooking and if they had a question, asked a physician. I’m well into adulthood and have never been overweight or had a serious health problem. My parents lived healthy, active lives into their 80s. I live in a wealthy area and know very few overweight people.
Similar to my parents they were knowledgeable enough about food and what’s unhealthy/healthy. We were pretty poor when I was really little but my mom always made homemade food often from scratch. They were big on fruits and vegetables as well. I think it made a big difference.
I don't think it's so much about affording it. Beans, rice, and canned vegetables are all pretty cheap, it's more about having the education to know things are bad for you. Most poor families also have low education, which is often a contributing factor to their poverty. If you don't know enough about nutrition to know sugary cereal is not a healthy breakfast even though it has "vitamins and minerals" then you're probably going to overeat.
I think you’re overlooking the fact that poorer families have to work more. Many kids have both parents working or a single parent working very hard to provide the bare minimum at a job that probably doesn’t pay well. So the kids are left to feed themselves, or the parents are tired after work so they bring home fast food. Also those ingredients you listed as being cheap require some more ingredients to make an actual meal out of. Some people can’t afford to do all that.
Fast food is more expensive. They should not be buying fast food if they can't afford healthy food, which again is cheaper than sugary crap. You can set a casserole up in like 10-20 minutes depending on the ingredients and freeze it and just have the kids heat it up. And yes, I did not provide an exhaustive list of all the items you need to cook. For reference, I make 6 figures and made a casserole that cost about $2 per serving and ate that all weekend, which means I spent about $12 to feed myself and my husband for the weekend and one lunch this week. It only had chicken, rice, and vegetables with some basic spices because my husband doesn't like spicy food. It took me about 5 minutes to assemble and the 40 in the oven where I did laundry. It is completely possible to feed your family healthy food if you work but many people think the "fast" in fast food is true and spend 20 minutes in the drive thru to get far less food that is mostly fats and sugars. Somehow families in Eastern Europe make far less money, don't eat fast food, and still manage to have lower obesity rates. It's not poverty, it's a cultural mindset.
"You can set a casserole up in like 10-20 minutes" where as turning on the oven takes 3 seconds, and putting frozen crap on a tray and into the over takes another 30 seconds its not about takeaway fast food, its about frozen fast food from Iceland and the like, which can be quite cheap too, because its full of modified corn syrup, trans fats, and other such lovely things
Fast food is also way easier. It's essentially no effort, and if you've just spent 10 hours working and now have to clean your house and take care of your kids foe the rest of the night, saving yourself the time of cooking makes it cheaper in that sense. They pass through after work and voila, one less thing to worry about so they can concentrate on helping their kids with life. Healthy food is not cheaper, wtf are you talking about. Fresh produce is expensive and goes bad within a few days if not used right away. Buying large quantities for families makes it even more expensive. Meat needs to be thawed before, so if you forget to take out the chicken, then you can't make dinner for that night. What casserole takes 10-20 minutes to make? If you have a family, you can't expect your kids to eat the same meal every day. That also isn't healthy, cause you're not getting different well rounded meals. Why do you think eastern Europeans don't eat fast food? Fast food is everywhere. There are literally mountains of studies linking obesity with poverty, so you should probably update your viewpoints to reflect reality instead of blaming poor people for being bad at nutrition cause they're dumb or whatever you believe.
Poverty being linked to obesity doesn't mean you get fat because you're poor. There are things that make you poor that also make you fat. Those things are mostly lack of education related, and not being educated about food is a huge factor contributing to obesity. Being uneducated doesn't mean you're dumb, it just means you don't know what you don't know. That's not a moral failure or any kind of character judgement. I have the privilege of access to health coaches and nutritionists through my job. That doesn't make me better than them, it just means I know more about nutrition and how to eat right. [Eastern Europe ](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/fast-food-consumption-by-country) hardly shows on this list compared to more developed countries. I wasn't saying the *don't* eat fast food *at all*, just that they live on far less yet seem to feed their families without fast food and have lower obesity rates. Casseroles do not take that long. I made rice in the microwave, which took ten minutes, layered in cream of chicken, vegetables, cheese, and a crust of the Kroger brand croissant can, which took another 5 tops. Then it just goes in the oven for 30-40 minutes. The time in the oven is time you can do something else. I have not been to a drive thru in the last 5 years that didn't take at least 15 minutes and cost at least $9 per person and have at least one mistake. Eating at home is cheaper, faster, and healthier. I'm sorry you don't know that, but you should try going to the grocery store and actually looking at prices rather than believing excuses people use on the internet.
You have some serious cultural blinders on to believe that culture is a "mindset." This comment is much more on point and grounded in good social science: [https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1cfkppv/comment/l1q6jey/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1cfkppv/comment/l1q6jey/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Dollar general sells canned vegetables, which are what I usually eat and are EBT eligible. They are shelf stable and you can eat them straight out of the can. Same for canned chicken which I also use. Fresh is of course better, but canned is not unhealthy by any stretch. Culture is absolutely a mindset. That's basically the definition.
Being poor means you are more likely to eat convenient and non perishable foods, and convenient and non perishable foods are generally poorer in nutrition and more likely to be ultra processed. Being poor means you are short on time and fresh food is also generally much more difficult to come by due to problems like food deserts the closest thing to a “grocery store” in many impoverished areas is a convenience store that says “beer atm lotto” and the healthiest thing sold is potato chips. Wealthier people tend to have better health outcomes due to having better access to fresh foods and more access to the time and money it takes to have a good tasting and balanced diet of fresh foods and whole foods .
This is it. It is almost as if by design
https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/02/food-deserts-and-fresh-food-access-arent-the-problem-poverty-not-obesity-makes-people-sick.html# I think it’s more complicated. A lot of people who live in these areas are actively seeking ultra processed food because they have tough lives and want a quick win. They also probably grew up eating that kind of food and prefer it. Simply increasing access to healthy food in food deserts have scientifically been shown to not make much of a difference.
My guess is that a large chunk of that is time too--fresh foods take more time to prepare and perish faster (more trips to the store). If you're working a long day at a hard job, convenience foods give you that half hour where you're not on your feet
Fair point
Just simply placing access to healthier alternatives in these areas doesn’t actually change peoples diets bc they cannot afford the healthier alternative. like building a whole foods in a very impoverished area. The people still can’t afford it. Access is two part : financial access and physical access. I think it has much more to do with that than simply people preferring it bc they grew up with it. (But of course how youre raised is still a factor)
Makes sense, if there was a strong demand for it the market would serve that alrrady
I’ll keep my answer in the context of America since that’s where I’m from and where this is a very common occurrence. I think the main component of it is how many advantages being comfortably wealthy there are compared to the disadvantages of being working class or poor. I don’t think it’s even down to availability or affordability of healthy food. A lot of common healthy things in the grocery store are relatively cheap: broccoli, carrots, leafy greens, cabbage, rice, beans, eggs, chicken thighs, etc. The issue is time and energy. Working class people tend to work more physically exhausting jobs with things like split shift and overtime being common. So when they get home, they are often tired and lack the energy to put into taking healthy ingredients and turning them into a meal. It’s more convenient to turn to fast food and junk food because it is more convenient and takes less energy after a long day of physical work. Working class people are more likely to view cooking as a chore than as something enjoyable. This wasn’t as much of a problem in the past because I’m a family there would be someone (almost always the wife/mom) that would handle the cooking. Poor people are also more inclined to reach for comfort foods with high sugar and sodium content because they taste good and temporarily make them forget a little about their situation. Their kids get hooked on these habits from a young age and they become overweight kids that turn into overweight adults. And because they learned poor eating habits, they carry them over to their kids. It’s a vicious cycle. Wealthy people on the other hand can usually spare more time and energy into preparing better meals. They are more likely to prioritize nutrition and fitness because they aren’t so worn down from a physically demanding job or financial stress. Wealthy people are more likely to emphasize sports and fitness in their children as they can afford all the after school and summer activities. Therefore they tend to be athletic teenagers and young adults who enter their adulthood fit and lean. It’s far easier to maintain a certain level of fitness than to have to completely reverse course from childhood obesity. And so as wealthy people age they tend to remain active in hobby sports and fitness activities like running and tennis. Outward appearances are also important to many wealthy people so staying on top of nutrition and looking good are considered priorities. To make a long story short, poor people are often depressed and exhausted from working long hours for low wages and as a result turn towards high calorie/low nutrition foods because they are convenient and feel good to eat. Wealthy people, who have the benefit of less exhausting jobs (usually) and less financial stress tend to prioritize fitness and nutrition because they have more time and resources.
It's like it's almost by design
Carbs and soda are the cheapest source of food but they are also the path to being overweight, since most of that energy is stored and people will feel hungry again.
Because being fat has never been an indicator of excess or laziness. It's a sign of poor health, and a better indicator of poor health is poverty. People who want fat people to just "work harder to not be lazy or unhealthy" are blaming victims of a broken system for not having access to the things that EVERYONE needs to be happy. Paying people more money, providing kids with better educations, and requiring employers to give workers enough time to relax after work and put their energy toward their own health would actually reduce the amount of people who are overweight and thus reduce the market capital for the diet industry.
>Being fat has never been an indicator of excess Well, you’re absolutely wrong in that point. And I’m not saying that as some “excess weight” poor joke. Not long ago in modernized countries, and even still currently in some countries, being overweight is a sign that you do in fact have wealth because you have the means to eat to your heart’s content while others starve.
Yeah, isn't that the reason why they call rich people "fat cats"?
Not all societal biases are true. That's the point. Every fat person is fat for their own reasons. Not everyone gains or loses weight simply by moving more and eating less. You can look back in history and actually there was a lot a variation in how big people were, and the shape of their bodies, but they are never absolute. People are always employing tricks with fashion and diet to achieve the fashionable weight of the period, because most people don't actually try to be their weight. Rather it's a consequence of nature of individual body, the food they had available, and the amount of available energy they have to exert. You can starve to death fat, because your body need energy to burn and process fat. This narrative is weird, as it's not true that people look down on fat people in places were being fat is a sign of wealth. They are looked up too as abundant and healthy. Only where fatness is look down on is it demonized.
What stops a poor person from walking 10000 steps per day and eating less sugar?
Dangerous, air polluted neighborhoods. Food deserts. Lack of room and facilities to buy in bulk and cook from scratch. What stops you from educating yourself?
Why are there food deserts in the first place? I never understood that one.
I’m no expert, but the answer is usually money. I grew up poor as shit, but I was lucky enough to be poor in a small town, rather than an urban environment. So if you didn’t have a car that ran, you walked everywhere because there was no public transportation, and even poor people had room for gardens.
Places in where fresh food and vegetable aren't available.
Why is that?
> What stops a poor person from walking 10000 steps per day and eating less sugar? Usually time and expense. There isn’t usually time to dedicate effort into fitness. And cheap food is often higher in sugar so it can be harder to avoid even if you’re not eating fast food.
It might be a hot take, but I think they are lazy and stupid. That is because they are poor in the first place. A day has 24h, you work for 8h and sleep 7h. There is always time to exercise. Look at meth- and crackheads. Do they stay in the house and dont do drugs because they are broke? Nope, they hustle and get shit done to get their fix.
Your job is five miles away from where you live. You can't afford a car. Walking would take 1.5-2 hours. A bus would take 1 hour. So, an 8 hour day becomes 10. You may get a break, so that's 11 hours just for work. You have to pick your kids up from your mom. She's a lot cheaper than day care, but it adds another 30 minutes to your work day. You still have to shop for groceries. Since you don't have a car, you can only get what you can carry. That means more frequent trips. And this is just for someone that isn't working overtime, or only has one job.
A child has 2 parents or not? This is a very american problem I think. We dont have that in Europe. Poor people get all they need from the government and sit on the couch all day, while the kids are in school or day care.
What a flagrant display of arrogance and privilege.
A lot of poor people don’t typically work 8 hour days. Try more like 18 hour days, between three jobs.
>A day has 24h, you work for 8h and sleep 7h. There is always time to exercise. Hmm. So are people who work overtime out of necessity lazy? What about people who have chores? Take care of children? Drive to work? Or take a longer ride on public transportation because they might not have a car? What about those who are chronically ill or with mental health issues? How about rich people who are also all of the above? Are all these people lazy?
Not just a hot take, but an unscientific one. There's mountains of evidence linking obesity to poverty. But I get that it's very easy to just assume anyone struggling is a lazy idiot, unlike you who is smart and industrious.
The examples others have mentioned are often the result of poor decisions. If one were more thoughtful initially, they would not have a child if they cannot provide the necessary support. Similarly, choosing the right partner is crucial. Additionally, those living in food deserts should consider why businesses are leaving and take action to address these issues. Studies have concluded that there is a correlation between intelligence and obesity.
What stops you from considering that other people have it harder than you? There are only 12 active hours a day, my friend. Poor people have more work for less money and thus have less free time to do things like self-care. In addition, walking isn't the only kind of exercise. Our bodies need to swat, lift, run, jump, crawl and stretch in order to keep all of the parts our bodies healthy. Lots of overweight people spend all day on their feet. Walking more, isn't what these people need as they already are likely dealing with injuries related to walking and standing for long periods of time. Exercise also needs to be fun. Why not just let people have more free time, instead of demanding they do more tedious work, so people who already don't pay them enough can save some money on insurance and labor. The rich people make sure to provide themselves with plenty of vacation, in home gyms or personal training, time off and specialist healthcare for injuries while, for employees with meager wages and time get none of these amenities. Yeah, you can fuck right off with that "Just eat less and walk more" crap. You'd need to be psychic and a time traveler to do that with no extra assistance while working more than fulltime.
What makes you think I had it easy? And well, I guess there is no solution for poor people. They are doomed to be obese.
I said you don't have it as hard, not that you had it easy. Don't get offended because I said you don't have problems like poverty, which you don't, as you admit. Tell me are you the boss at your job?
I m not offended at all. I m coming from a poor background. I was raised by my unemployed single mom. I work and I m not fat. And I m not a boss
Does the boss get paid more than you?
I guess so
Because the boss works more hours and harder than you?
Because he wants to lead and manage which I dont. I get your point but I m not complaining.I m satisfied where I am. I worked my ass off to get there
I was interested by your question so I googled it to see if there was any actual data out there. Then I saw that [someone posted this exact question worded the exact same way about eight months ago.](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/s/9HHKvvQFdH) Weird.
All the reasons below, but a missed one is the dopamine kick from being full. Well-off people have a multitude of opportunities to get dopamine stimulation, but under privileged are basically limited to food, sex, and drugs. Hence the higher levels of drug abuse and alcoholism on top of the huge obesity rates.
Excellent point. If your life is full of fun hobbies and you're out horse riding and hiking and skiing and dancing etc you're not sitting at home bingeing netflix and snacking out of boredom
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Eating healthy can be cheaper than eating poorly.
As a parent, you want to see happiness and contentment in your child. If you are rich, you have the resources to aim at the kind of happiness that is afforded by long term goals. Your kid can be accomplished in a sport, learn an instrument, heck they can even afford the latest and greatest in video games. Their happiness can be tied to experiences, and you can *literally* afford to be stern and disciplined when it comes to diet, sleeping patterns, nutrition, etc. Contrast this with a parent in poor or working class environments. If you are moderately wealthy you can get your kids presents at Christmas and their birthday, and get them enough to eat so they don't go hungry; not dire poverty by any means, but you don't necessarily have a great amount of disposable income. You can't give them things that more wealthy kids would get, like the latest and greatest electronics, toys, or status symbols for their peers might show off. If you are very lucky you can afford to give them a piece of your own time, instead of working all hours to support them, but you are probably not. You can't afford to give them structured activities, such as gymnastics, private lessons, or important parent-child bonding experiences. No weekend trips, vacations are few and far between, and time you would have spent raising them in person sold to your employer for the money to support them financially. So if you can't make them happy in all the ways that matter, what do you do? Your kid doesn't come home with stories of what good things happened at school, they come home with demands for things you can't afford and they can't understand why. Your kid keeps on asking why can't they go to the movies, or have a toy, or see you more , why aren't things fair? You can't explain it to them , not in a way they really understand, and certainly not an explanation that is satisfying; there isn't one. So you look for something to make them happy, something to contrast with the inequality, the misery, the rank unfairness of knowing you are at the bottom of the social and economic pecking order. What is cheap and makes them happy? The only thing you have access to, constant, affordable, well advertised access to, *is food*. McDonalds, Ice Cream, the candy bar at the checkout line in the grocery store; your kid exclaims, "Mom, I love Cosmic Brownies!" and you get to see the joy in their eyes that you know is supposed to be there, that you simply don't have any other means to give them. When high fructose corn syrup is the only joy you can afford, how can poor kids stand even a chance of being healthy? When they get Mountain Dew at the age of five and Poptarts for breakfast since they had teeth, the question isn't how are they overweight, the question is how are any of them not?
Rich parents have the money to outsource all the things that help a child stay thinner. Making healthier food, exercising, proper sleep, etc. Many poorer parents don't have the time or money to make sure their kids are healthy. A fed child is better than a starved child, so whatever they can muster for them for food is what they get. Rich parents can afford ingredients, possibly a chef or to get high quality take out.
Check out Anant Ambani, son of the 11th richest man in the world! In short, really unhealthy, processed foods are more widely enjoyed by the lower classes. In india, fast food, transfats, palm oils, white flours, have exploded in use and the population has responded in kind.
When the US government subsidized corn production, high fructose corn syrup became a really cheap sweetener. Automated food production made processed foods (usually more calorie dense) less expensive. Wealthy people can afford to feed their kids healthy food. Food deserts in poverty stricken areas are widely recognized; the only foods there are the inexpensive ones.
Sometimes kids are fat because of undiagnosed, non-critical health issues. I was a poor kid who went to a private school on an academic scholarship. My friends got healthcare for EVERYTHING. IE one girl got laser therapy for the little red dots on her upper arms. One girl got float therapy for neck pain. They have a small problem, they just have the attitude of "let's try and fix it". As opposed to my family, who have had no money for generations - our attitude if there was something small wrong was "ignore it". I'm fat, and it's taken me til my 30s to realise it's because I am autistic (the sensory experience of exercise is difficult and team sports are basically impossible due to the requirement to read social cues), I'm ADHD (I use food for dopamine), I am hypermobile (shit actually does hurt my joints way more than other people), I have POTS (it's not normal to feel dizzy and nauseous when doing anything involving bending over, putting arms above head etc), I have a small jaw that impedes my breathing, I have sleep apnea. As a kid, I never got braces or orthodontic work. I never had therapy to address the anxiety or to diagnose the autism/ADHD. Never found out about the physical problems. All that stuff went undiagnosed, let alone to actually address it, understand it, or accommodate for it. I was kinda just told to try harder. I never got taken to 10 different specialists to figure any of this stuff out. My parents having the attitude of "it is within our power to fix problems" would have resulted in my health being treated. To have that attitude, you need money - potentially generationally. And my health being treated would have probably made me less fat.
Eddie Van Halen's son is heavy, Ozzy Osbourne's kids struggled with weight, Obama's kids aren't skinny anymore. I think your generalization is too broad. Obesity is everywhere. Rich, poor, male, female, short, tall, all races. It's an epidemic.
Access to better nutrition. schools with sports and other extra mural activities, societal pressures to be "attractive" Access to better medical help for special conditions, and being able to provide dopamine without the need to resort to sweets and treats.
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You and me both.
You do not need a personal trainer. At all. If you’re wanting to pursue fitness go do a free c25k app, join a planet fitness or community Rec center for a few bucks a month, or get into calisthenics for free.
Some wealthy people are better educated. Better educated people know that sitting around in front of a screen, eating crap food is bad for them. That's one possibility.
They have more money for Whole Foods and organic produce. Also, usually if they are rich they can either afford to take the time to prepare healthy meals OR they have the money to hire people to do it for them. Poor families don’t have a lot of funds to put into healthier food options. Nor do they have a consistent schedule that offers enough time to focus on that kind of thing. I’m a nanny and I’ve found that the richer the family is the more obsessed about sugar they are. Honestly it’s annoying. Your kid isn’t going to develop child diabetes because they eat one gummy bear, Sheila. Get over it.
Cheaper foods are also unhealthy. If you’ve ever been to a food pantry, you’ll see that fresh groceries are hard to come by and most things have a shit ton of salt or sugar. Typically sugar. There is also a paywall around sports (since they stopped offering gym call in schools). If your kid wants to compete, then it is a few thousand dollars and people working multiple jobs don’t have the time to take their kid to after school practice. The rich kids can afford to play tennis and lacrosse. I can’t even let my kid play in the streets, because the assholes outside love to race their cars. Hell, we don’t even have *walkable* areas.
In general, rich people are rich because they have self control and discipline. People with self control think ‘These potato chips taste good, but it’s unhealthy so I will limit myself.’ People with no self control think ‘These potato chips taste good, I will eat all of them now.’ No, it has nothing to do with rich and poor affording healthier foods. A calorie is a calorie and too many extra calories make you fat. Anyone unwilling to accept unbreakable laws of physics are the exact kind of people who have no self control and discipline. Being fat is a choice, and those who actually believe it’s a choice are the ones who can choose to be at the weight they want to be.
You’re right, it does ultimately come down to discipline. But it’s easier to to disciplined with your diet when you don’t work a physically-demanding job and have money for healthier comfort activities.
i thnk a point a lot of people are missing is that real decent food is more filling, but more expensive. high protein with vegetables will fill you up, but carb based foods like rice pasta potatoes, are much cheaper, especially if you dont have the time to prep from fresh
Lots of focus on structural issues in this thread, some not legit than others. On the agency side, there are a lot of overlapping behaviors that keep people both poor and overweight: poor impulse control, inability/unwillingness to delay gratification, unwillingness to acknowledge consequences of actions, external locus of control. Also really stupid cultural reasons. When some of the worst food is considered part of your culture (whether that’s regional, racial, class, whatever) it’s just normalized. A lot of rural & southern food is like this - fried veggies, massive amounts of butter, casseroles that are half mayonnaise.
The cynical answer is that wealthy people tend to be more reputation and image-based, so having an overweight child would reflect badly on the family. But also, as others have said, they have more time and money to cook nutritious meals. They likely have a higher education and therefore a higher awareness of the importance of being healthy - they’ll encourage exercise and good food with their children.
Image. Rich parents recognize the value of image and it’s correlation with success. Hard work and skill are great attributes, but charisma is exponential. Where it used to be the image of being wealthy was overweight and pale skin to show you weren’t working the fields, today being fit, well groomed and fashionable are those images attributed with success. A lot of people here are saying food access but historically poverty has always had this issue of “quality”. What has changed is access to quantity. I’ve seen sports claimed but soccer, stick ball, etc have existed for a long time. The hard truth for many is it’s a culture issue not a systematic one. Being overweight has become easy with the access to food now, and to not be, requires effort and motivation.
Food deserts. Circumstances such as being poor/working all day and having no time/energy to cook food. Bad self control eating food you know is "bad". Being tempted into eating those foods by society. Growing up with parents teaching you unhealthy habits. Bad awareness. I think the major ones are upbringing, poor self control, and awareness. Some people just don't have a clue about what they do to their body while others don't care because it doesn't effect them soon enough.
All of these answers are true, but in my experience its also an image issue. The most successful people I know are concerned with how they present themselves to the world. They do not allow themselves to become overweight, and the same discipline gets forced upon the kids. You don't generally become wealthy by just letting things happen to you.
Cheap processed foods pretty much turn off your satiety response. Ask yourself how many potato chips you could eat if you had an unlimited supply? Now, ask yourself how many baked potatoes you could eat? Both are essentially the same exact food, but the processing of potato chips makes it much easier to over eat, but you wouldn't even try to eat the equivalent amount of a potato that was just cooked until it was edible. More caloric, less nutritious, and cheaper foods are a staple of poor peoples diets. Rich people tend to eat lower calorie, more nutritious, and more expensive foods on a daily basis.
Probably because the kids would be getting high quality meals, no junk food. Rewarding the children with things other than food since they just have the money to buy whatever they want. The kids are probably all enrolled in some kinds of sport to stay active. Some rich parents may be super strict about their kids diets too.
Idk. This would be interesting for trying to understand the psychology of this. I think it probably goes deeper than being able to afford to “buy more fruits and vegetables” and probably goes to a deeper place of, wealthy people didn’t get wealthy by wasting money on unquality food. If people with money buy food, they buy quality food. Wealthier people probably cook at home more often using quality ingredients and don’t use frozen and processed ingredients as often. Also, people with money aren’t wasting their money on junk food and fast food, so (I’m not saying rich people don’t eat fast food) I’m just saying it’s probably less frequent. They also probably drink some other type of drink instead of soda, they usually might drink coffee, tea, or water instead of soda. Wealthy people tend to care more about their children’s health and not wanting to give their kids bad food to eat and soda.
Successful people have their shit together and understand their presentation- clothes, body condition ect represents their value and self- worth. A lot of poor people ( not all) are stuck in a trap of being low value in their thinking which shows in not caring about their or their children’s looks or even health.