I just read an interesting blog post by Philip Brewer about the fatness of poor people. In the post, Brewer points out the seeming irony of poor people’s tendency for fatness and obesity. He cites some of the common explanations given for that phenomenon, but he ultimately blames it on hunger. He explains that poor people overeat because the human body still feels hungry until it gets the nutrition it needs, and poor people tend to eat unhealthily because unhealthy food tends to cost less than healthier food.
Brewer offers the solution of eating healthy on a budget by cooking “real food” at home. To paraphrase, he says that people need to stop buying things that have a list of ingredients and instead buy actual ingredients.
Unfortunately, many poor people probably do not have the time or knowledge to cook healthy food. Instead they will succumb to the likes of the dollar menu at McDonald’s. Also, poor children have to rely on their parents who may not cook for them.
I recommend that anti-poverty organizations take steps to help poor people eat healthier. They can even do this simply by distributing helpful information to poor people. Also, I think as a society we can use the schools to ensure that children have access to healthy food. I would like to see schools offer more healthy choices to children. I would also like to see the schools create more breakfast programs. In fact, the schools could also open their cafeterias after-school for an early dinner.