yes you can be overweight and in poverty

[Mumof4worriedfor]

Just saw this story on ITV twitter.com/itvnews/status/614128648585617408

Most of the comments are about her weight. Don't people understand the cheaper food is more unhealthy and you can very quickly get into poverty! Really annoyed by the response.

There's obviously a connection between poverty and obesity, but it isn't the cause.
We do seem to have got into a culture of cheap crappy food and an unhealthy lifestyle in this country though. Something I've noticed on other forums is that some people seem to take pride in deliberately ignoring advice on health. I wonder if that is the case in other countries?
My own opinion (as someone who has been very poor at times) is that it is possible to eat a healthy diet and be fit on a low budget, but it takes a lot of work, motivation and knowledge. I was brought up by a mother who knew how to do this and I learnt from her. I can understand how some other people just didn't have that knowledge passed on to them. Where do they start?

I agree with TheHouseOnBellSt - it's ridiculous to suggest that you can't eat very cheaply and stay healthy, but there's so much more to it than that, otherwise there wouldn't be people living in poverty who are also alcoholics or smokers. You can feed a family of 4 for the price of a packet of fags but people in poverty still smoke.

It's about self-esteem, self worth, self confidence. As long as poor people think that they have no hope and no way out of their situation they will continue to take comfort in the little luxuries that they can afford.

When I had to feed and clothe a family of 4 and put petrol in the car on £75 a week I gave up wine and eating out, bought a lot of cheap pasta etc. But I always knew that it was only for a few years. I still got rather fat though!

I think gaining knowledge has never been easier, now that we have the internet.

Also it's about self image... hard to explain but when I'm at work roughly a third of my colleagues are morbidly obese and I'm referred to as the 'tall skinny bird' (I'm 5'9" and about 12 stone lol!) When I'm with my sporty friends I'm the one with the biggest bum so I feel like a right lard-arse

Isn't that part of it? It's become so 'normal' to be grossly overweight that people don't feel out of place or see the need to change.

I'm slightly prone to high blood pressure so my doc suggested I bought a monitor. Told my colleagues about it and they asked me to bring it to work and test them. The overweight ones nearly all had much higher bp than me.

Agree with you worra re gaining knowledge through the internet. I suppose the 1st step is motivation.

I think articles like this are a bit of a red herring. The woman has a secure roof over her head (assuming she is in social housing), her child receives free meals at school for breakfast and lunch, they have furniture in their house, the child has clothes to wear and is receiving a free education. This is so far from what I consider genuine poverty, that it's almost farcical.

I'm not saying there aren't people out there in genuinely dire straits, but this is not it. She is not the right choice as the face of child poverty.

vvega you might have a point there. I can see myself gaining a stone over the next two months eating cheap bread and pasta just to help replace the savings given what we've paid for Disneyland Paris

I think it's loss of food culture too, which is where anecdotal evidence of someone's grandad or great grandma's diet from over half a century ago can provide useful information. Huge food manufacturers have stepped in to provide cheap, mass produced junk food whereas years ago that option wouldn't have existed. Also the loss of manual work in many deprived areas. I know, because that's where I grew up and is part of my heritage. My parents and grand parents generation had to cook family food from cheap ingredients, pies, hotpot, stews, organ meats like tripe or liver. My mum and her family were from a part of the country where fish, not cod but less desirable fish, and shellfish were a staple food source, probably with a side order of chips also! Obviously though, theres a difference nutritionally between old style handchipped fresh potatoes fried in beef fat or lard and what you have now. There was no iceland, aldi, or suchlike but what there would have is a regional food culture, that has largely disappeared in deprived areas.

My OH is forrin born, and I know if we live off his own food, the ingredients of which we can largely source from ethnic stores, our shopping bill would be very cheap. We would eat some meat, not loads, beans, lots of starchy filling food which stretches well. That's his own food culture, and he has said himself, from the developing country he is from, even the poorest people can eat something, something healthy. That's because they have a strong food culture which is based on eating locally sourced food and meats which are just not desirable over here, utilising the whole of the animal not just a chicken breast or steak or muscle meat. And the poorest will still have that knowledge of what is healthy and good for their bodies. But they wouldn't be fat!

I don't think we can blame pasta for it either.

The Italians are one of the slimmest nations in Europe.

Some of this debate has, ironically, ended in double poor bashing - from one side, who think they should be stronger willed, less lazy and cook cheap nutritious meals and from the other, who label them as too depressed/frightened to do anything about it. "The poor" has apparently become some homogenised mass of either incompetence or suffering, depending on the perspective. Actually, we are talking about individuals, many of whom look after themselves, their children and diet well, some of whom are lazy, some who are depressed, some who just like eating bad foods and every other type of healthy and unhealthy relationship with food that Exists. Same as all people. In my circle of friends, who are of a very mixed range of income, education and background, I have greedy ones, sanctimonious ones, ones who are masterchef level of obsessive about good food, some who eat for fuel, others who eat their emotions. It's just human, isn't it?

Spot on nagsandovalballs

I think it's pretty patronising to say that someone can't make choices about their weight and eating. I'm willing to bet that most people have access to the internet, whether in their own home or through community services such as the local libraries, and there is something called 'google' which provides thousands of links to information. Anyone with access to the internet who desires to make changes to their diet is quite capable of finding the information that they need to make that change.

Of course anyone is capable of finding the information. Finding the money to pay for the change is a different matter.

It doesn't cost more to eat less, or to exercise more and often that's what's needed.

Again, it's not just about the quality of food but also the quantity and lack of suitable amounts of exercise.

Yes but Worra what about the inevitable depression and lowness which goes hand in hand with poverty?

I wouldn't say it was inevitable TheHouse. In fact I know many very cheerful people in poverty, who just seem to manage and get on with life.

However, I accept that not everyone's like that.

Depression and lowness will cause weight gain for some, but not for others. So again, it's just one of very many factors.

Cheap food full of simple carbs and processed fats and sugars leads to malnutrition - regardless of body size.

It affects your energy levels and mood when eaten day in day out for months or years.

Stress also affects your cortisol levels and makes it far easier to put on weight around your middle.

I HATE how people feel entitled to judge 'poor people' 's choices - everything from whether they keep a pet cat to what they put in their mouths - under the guise of: 'well, we all pay for benefits'.

Yes, we do, and a HUGE chunk of that is pensions.
Do you judge an old man with a pet cat/dog/budgie?
An old woman with a penchant for custard creams or rich fruit cake.
No.

nagsandovalballs - Well said! x

I think nagsandovalballs has summed it up quite nicely.
There are lots of people in food poverty who are not overweight and not depressed just like there are in the rest of the population.
I grew up in poverty, the house was threadbare, all our clothes would be mended and my mum used to cut down her old dresses or curtains to make clothes for me when I had grown and she couldn't afford replacements. We had a reasonably well balanced diet though. I don't think I tasted fizzy pop unless I went to birthday parties because the cost of a bottle of pop was the price of a bag of carrots which could be used towards making soup. We ate burgers and chips once a week. We had biscuits and cakes but they were always homemade because it was cheaper than buying them and we were only allowed them once a day. We used to go blackberry picking in the summer because that way we got exercise, were occupied and had something tasty and free to make a dessert with.
People regardless of income can make bad choices or good choices and I think it is not right to say that being poor makes people feel more depressed so they buy more cheap comforting foods. Poor people are capable of making balanced food choices that they can afford (and have the facilities to prepare and cook). Some people just choose not to make balanced food choices and not all of those people are poor.
Growing up my mum was slim because she walked miles to the cheaper shops to save bus fare and she cooked healthily most of the time (but she ate plenty). She now has much more money available for food and she is obese. She eats mainly healthy meals but spends a lot of money on sugary treats because she can afford them now without sacrificing the basic foodstuffs. She also drinks more alcohol because she can afford it.

I joined ww as I am about 4 stone overweight, I have lost 30 pounds since mid-Feb by eating healthy foods. I eat as close to nature as possible, fruit, veg, eggs and lean meat. Very few processed foods. I have noticed an increase in cost as I keep my fruit bowl full so I don't snack on the wrong things. I buy stuff nealy every day so I don't run out. I am not poor but far from well off. It is more expensive to buy fruit than sweets or crisps for example.

Depression and feeling low will make it much harder to improve your situation, just because everything seems a hundred times more difficult than it does to a well person.

Food deserts are an issue too. Round our way all the little convenience stores sell very little fresh fruit and veg let alone things like brown rice or dried lentils. Even something as basic as dried pasta and noodles are harder to find than 'pasta pots' or pot noodles. Meat of any description is really expensive. If you own a car or can walk a mile or so you can get to bigger supermarkets but if not it must be hard to eat well all the time.

I love a good lentil chilli! One of my favourite meals in fact but I know plenty of people that wouldn't know what to do with a lentil! And wouldn't neccesarily have the store cupboard ingredients to make the things palatable either.

But depression and feeling low isn't unique to people living in poverty. Plenty of people with good incomes are depressed and overeat or make poor food choices as a result of their mood. I agree that once an individual has become depressed and is using food as a comforter that the cycle is hard to break. But people in poverty can reduce the risks of depression before it is onset by exercising regularly, which can involve simply doing things like walking a couple of miles everyday.

It is such a complex issue.

Free school meals are great but what about the holidays?

What healthy food is available locally? Food deserts as IrianofWay describes.

What about what is 'normal' in the locality? If everyone around you is hugely overweight then there will be a tendency to follow suit. If all the neighbour kids are eating chicken nuggets and chips then your own will tend to want the same.

People can have access to a line of credit (eg a store card) but no cash. You can buy a mirror in a charity shop for pence but they wont take your Argos card so guess where you buy your mirror from?

You could take up sports but have you got the trainers? Do you want to be sniggered at by your neighbours?

You could grow your own healthy vegetables but:

a. you cant afford the seed
b. you dont know how or what to grow
c. your landlord doesnt want you to dig up the backgarden for potatoes

Perhaps you are a carer with limited time and money to get to the shops to buy healthy food. And anyway, you are knackered.

Poverty isnt simple.