Oh no he dihhen…! Yes, I did. Common, don’t pretend you have never noticed the difference in size between people at Safeway and people at Wholefoods; people at Walmart and people at Ikea.

So what came first? The Kentucky Fried Chicken or the Egg?

Scenario One
Are lower income Americans overweight because they are lazy and ignorant, thus their economic status is just another symptom of their personality? That’s what statisticians call a correlation between obesity and economic status, but not a direct cause and effect relationship.

Scenario Two
Or are lower income Americans overweight because things like healthy food, gym memberships, and personal trainers are expensive? In this case, we have a more direct link between the two - Poverty causes obesity.

The first scenario is appealing to those who would like to write off the problem of a working-class poor, the issues of overpriced food, underpriced junk, unattainable healthcare, and maybe even the direct exploitation of millions of Americans by the fast-food / cheap food / junk food industry. Yes, the title of this blog entry is sensationalist at best, offensive at worst. But the purpose is to draw attention to the problem, not belittle it. I work in an industry that spends a lot of money on marketing, and I see the “demo” that gets marketed to - or at. That income demographic is mostly above the $50,000 per year mark. And for good reason… it’s expensive to be healthy.

My favorite non-SEO blog blog in the world is probably Wisebread. While reading it today, I came across an entry titled: “Why is it so Expensive to be Healthy?” and thought to myself: “Finally, someone has the guts to say it!” Here is a quote from the aforementioned blog entry:

It is expensive to eat well, even if you are only buying raw veggies. The truth is that lower income shoppers, and other populations that live on junk food, are getting more calories per dollar than the rest of us. It’s economically efficient, if tragically perverse.

Have a look at this graph from the Utah Department of Health showing the amount of obese adults by income:

So I thought it was an interesting observation and collection of information and something that is on my mind often. Coming from a single-parent, factory-job household in the decaying Midwest city of Cincinnati to where I am now has allowed me to see both sides of the fence. Moral of the story: Judge not lest ye be judged yourself after walking a mile in someone else’s shoe to cast a stone and save a penny.