There is a definite correlation between wealth and obesity. The poorest states also tend to be the fattest. Walk around the supermarket sometime and see what the cheapest things to eat are. Mac and cheese will feed a couple of people for a 1.50 or so. Hot dogs can be found for a dollar or two. Soda can be bought cheaper than water or milk.
Now go price the same meal to feed two with healthy alternatives. Do that for 3 meals a day and add the bills up at the end of a month. It makes a significant difference.
I have definitely noticed my grocery bill going up since I started living a more healthy lifestyle. I think part of the answer is to create a financial incentive for people to consume more healthy foods. I don't know exactly in what form that comes, but I don't think that the rest of the public should be forced to pay (through health care costs) for the poor health decisions of the growing (literally) masses.
Another one of Mississippi's problems is that their grocery stores (at least the ones I went to) have a pretty awful selection of healthy foods in the first place (since people don't tend to buy them). You can find them, but you REALLY have to look hard.
I'll also chime in on the weighing every day debate. I weigh myself every day. I just like to know what my body is doing. I do it the same way, every day, at roughly the same time.
I don't get too worked up about things if I'm up a few lbs, but I will sometimes get a bit excited if I'm down. I've found my normal range is anywhere from 200-210 or so, and I can fluctuate up to 7 lbs in the course of 24 hours. I usually lose 2-3 lbs overnight.
What people tend to forget is that your body is something like 60-70% water. If I've had a lot of salty foods (and I love sodium way more than sugar), I find that I tend to weigh more the next day or two. I would bet that going on a low sodium diet would cause most people to lose at least 10 lbs in a month if they changed nothing else.
wait what? hyvee's current sale is 3 12 packs for $10, thats $6.67 for a 24 pack on sale. a 36 pack for water is 4 bucks, water is cheaper, i'm not even putting in the gallon size considering its 79 cents a gallon (29 if you refill it), compared to $4 for 4 liters , which is equivalent to a gallon of milk
for the cost of hotdogs and what you get, you can easily get a whole chicken (drumsticks are even 99 cents a lb), and get more food out of it thats healthier and cheaper.
you can get 16 oz of frozen veggies as much as a box of mac and cheese, healthier, and more filling too.
its not that fast food is cheaper, its simply easier to make, and people are too lazy to make food.
hell i had steak everyday for 4 days in a row with corn, greenbeans and asparagus and a 2 lightly buttered toasts. I calculated it and it costs me literally $3.17 for each meal i made. Thats a damn good price considering the food i got out of it. Its cheaper to get a huge sirloin and cut steak sizes yourself, hell go to sams club and get $50 worth of flank steak if you want, you can get around 40 peices out of it.
one thing living on my own has taught me, i can make better food, for a lot cheaper. I remember before i kept spending around $7-10 everytime i went out to eat for crappy burgers at culvers/burger king, and eating out at cheesecake factory/bww and stuff and blow $30 on myself alone.
edit: i think the roll on more obese people being poorer is simply because they are uneducated, they lack restraint. Not to be racist but you ever wonder where the stereotype came from that black people are impulse buyers? Its not only black people, its all poor people. Just there is a higher percentage of black poverty in cities compared to anything else. Poorer people are impulsive to get immediate rewards, soda tastes good compared to water, mac and cheese is more of a comfort food vs broccoli, fried foods have more flavor than a lot of baked foods. People are willing to pay more for the "feel good now" affect.
