Why is Child Obesity more common in low income families than high income families?

Question

You would think that the more money people have, the more food they eat, wouldn' you?

Answer 1

Because cheap crappy food is high in fat and sugar and low in any other nutritional content.

Answer 2

I'm not sure I completely agree with this child obesity is more common in low income families. I think it's across the board, it is easy to point the finger to one social class or another. Yes education can play a big part in eating healthily and it may be so that some social groups don't have info readily available or lack the motivation. Just as a comparison, I know alot of people with families in both low income and higher income catagories. I have not found it the case that child obesity is higher or there is a lack of nutrition. Infact I know people with more money than sense...who snack happily on micro meals and take-aways rather than cook and think it's ok to let their kids do the same...after all saves time right?

Yes in some cases poor nutrition happens in low income families, due to not having enough to eat, rather than being able to afford to eat fatty crap all day and becoming obese. Like I said I think the problem is fairly equal across the social groups. Education about it should be tackled nationally. People should be taught how to cook in schools...that doesn't seem to happen so much these days. Not everyone, well off or poor has had a parent or friend who has taught them cheap healthy recipies.

Low income..doesn't mean thick or necessarily uneducated. Most with a bit of common sense can learn to shop cheaply and still buy all the fresh fruit, veg etc etc they need and have no room for waste. Because in the long run, snacks and take-aways cost one hell of alot more.

By the way, unhelpful comments about people being unemployed and being lazy,greedy and wasteful doesn't help anyone. For 99% this is completely untrue. Lets hope you don't end up unempolyed one day (if you haven't already) then you'll realise just how tough it can be...but amazingly they still manage to feed their kids relatively healthily on the little they have, and their kids are bright, healthy and fit....from walking to school instead of being chauffer driven.

Answer 3

There is too much on offer in the convenience cabinets in the supermarkets in the UK, foods highly processed and full of fats, sugers and salt, specifically targeted at the low income families. For example, the meal deals Iceland used ot do, "everything you need for a meal for a fiver", look at what the offer is consisting of, no fresh fruit or veg in there. people who have brains and common sense to work out the best way to feed a family will be in the higher paid jobs because they obviously worked harder to get where they are, not sitting around watching rubbish on daytime TV and only working part time. I know some will find my comment inflamatory, but please note, I have been both ends of the scale, so I know what I'm talkign about! A lot boils down to how suseptible people are to advertising, the less intelligent, the more easily swayed, the more intelligent the viewer, the better the diet as the higher end viewer works out the strategy behind the adverts.

Answer 4

ditto to the answers above...lower income people buy the food that is most cost effective, and sadly that means food like McDonalds or the highly refined and processed stuff people buy in bulk at the supermarket.

But... education and health care also play a part. Lower income families live in lower income areas, so generally speaking the public schools they go to are not well fundied and lack nutrition education. Lower income families have less access to decent health care, if they even have health care, so if a child is obese they often do not get adequate resources to help families put their child on the right path. It's very sad, and I think it's a problem that more equal education and a better system of healthcare could help to solve.

Answer 5

Lower income families don't have money for the kind of pleasurable vices that richer people do, like drugs or prostitutes or wild parties in Ibiza. So they compensate by over-doing the things they can afford to, like eating comfort food and drinking beer. Unfortunately the eating habits of the adults are passed on to the children and as everyone else in the family is overweight nobody really notices or thinks that there is a problem, so they lose the will to control their food intake and keep their weight down.

Answer 6

I think child obesity is more common in low income families because good food like fruit and veg etc are more expensive than the crap like burgers and chips. But my Mum didn't have alot of money when we were growing up but she still managed to cook good healthy food. I'd rather eat less good food, more than eating more **** food. It's up to the parents.

Answer 7

Low income families typicall eat less than nutritious foods, which are less expensive than good quality, nutritious foods.

Low income children get free or reduced meals from school, and they are not healthyl.

They generally don't have the motivation to live healthier.

These are general answers. I by no means think all low income families are involved in this.

Answer 8

Apart from the obvious about cheap food being high in fat, salt, artificial additives and sugar, it is also a question of education. Generally those on lower incomes tend not to be as well educated as those on higher incomes, so those on low incomes tend not to make informed choices.

Answer 9

Low income families might not be able to be as active as high income families. The higher income can afford to put there children into sports, dance classes, karate etc. Im sure their kids would tend to be more active versus children whos family cant afford to enroll them in activities or afford to do much with their children, so its possible they sit around wachin tv or playin playstation or video games and not be as active. This, i would think could contribute to obesity in children.

Answer 10

i dont really like to generalise but i'm going to! Low income families tend not to be as highly educated and therefore wouldnt always have the knowledge or the ability to provide thier children with a healthy balanced diet. Also sometimes its about the quality of food not quantity, a pack of tesco economy sausage contains much more fat than a pack of their finest range.

Answer 11

People on low incomes are more likely to be stupid, although I'm not suggesting all of them are. If they are stupid they are more likely to consider that fast food is good value for money. Also they might have stupid parents who didn't teach them how to cook healthy nutricious meals. So it would never occur to them to cook a meal from scratch using healthy ingredients, they would dismiss it as expensive and time-consuming without investigating the cost.