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A comment on More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Widening (2015). Parent comment

Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by colmvp on Sunday July 17, 2016 @07:54AM (#12109869)
The article implies that people of low-income backgrounds are vulnerable to obesity. It wouldn't surprise me given that it's a lot cheaper to fill yourself up with soft drinks and carbs like bread/pasta/rice than it is to do with vegetables (at least, without a lot more research/effort).
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by Sacho on Sunday July 17, 2016 @08:12AM (#12109926)
It is not cheaper. The poverty tax is in knowledge, and it is paid twice - easily accessible food is expensive for its quality. With enough money to buy time or expertise to manage your diet, you can pay less money for higher quality food.
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by sotojuan on Sunday July 17, 2016 @08:43AM (#12110002)
The poor don't have time for that or much cooking—they have two jobs.
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by rsmsky1 on Sunday July 17, 2016 @10:36AM (#12110290)
They could cook on the weekend or on their day off and try to use a crock pot or bake things as those can be done while doing other things at the same time.
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by geon on Sunday July 17, 2016 @08:57AM (#12110035)
Cooking doesn't necessarily take much time.
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by peteretep on Sunday July 17, 2016 @08:28AM (#12109968)
It's also a lot quicker and easier to prepare packaged and ready-to-eat meals which have some scary nutritional profiles. Poor people can often have chaotic and busy lives which precludes finding and preparing fresh food.

Also: http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/usda-defi...

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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by ethbro on Sunday July 17, 2016 @09:35AM (#12110116)
Also, they may simply lack access. Try walking to your nearest grocery in the US.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert

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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by WalterSear on Sunday July 17, 2016 @01:06PM (#12110815)
Availability doesn't appear to trump culture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/upshot/giving-the-poor-eas...

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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by ethbro on Sunday July 17, 2016 @01:59PM (#12111014)
"Generational habits of consumers don't change overnight" seems a less than surprising conclusion for something as social as food. Even with availability + affordability + community education, I can't expect you'd be looking at less than a half-generation for diets to change.
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by WalterSear on Sunday July 17, 2016 @02:24PM (#12111138)
Ergo, food deserts aren't a valid way to look at the situation, since availability isn't the fundamental problem.
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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by ethbro on Monday July 18, 2016 @05:39PM (#12118203)
That doesn't following from my way of looking at it.

Your view as I understand it: research shows that availability doesn't change dietary habits over the short term, therefore something other than availability is the fundamental problem.

My view: the research you've linked shows that availability doesn't change dietary habits over the short term, but that might still mean that availability is a fundamental problem over the longer term or still a necessary but not sufficient fundamental problem over the short term (e.g. maybe it takes availability + education).

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Re:More Women Than Men Are Obese in America, and Gap Is Wide... by Gracana on Sunday July 17, 2016 @09:01AM (#12110043)
Hell, look at canned vegetables. Most contain sugar; you have to buy more expensive frozen or fresh stuff if you want something unadulterated.
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