Poverty a poor excuse for obesity

[Perthbum]

Have to agree, fast food is far more expensive than good fresh food.

 

IT used to be that poor kids were the skinny ones - their parents couldn't afford to feed them - but new research reveals a modern underclass of obese children.

 

The Murdoch Children's Research Institute study of 4000 Australian children has found that kids from poor families are three times more likely than the wealthiest kids to grow up obese.

 

 

Rich kids are skinnier than their poorer classmates when they start preschool. And while wealthy children tend to shed their puppy fat, kids from poor families are more likely to grow up even chubbier.

 

 

Why? A popular explanation from health professionals and academics is that disadvantaged families just can't afford to buy fresh, nutritious food.

 

 

What tripe! A bunch of vitamin-packed bananas costs less than a packet of fatty, salty chips or a cargo-charged ice cream or chocolate bar.

 

 

Fruit and vegetables are cheap when they're in season, and food now chews through a smaller slice of the household budget than it did a generation ago.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/opinion/poverty-a-poor-excuse-for-obesity/story-fnh4jt5z-1226688530184

[Bobbsy]

For once I have to agree with you 100% but would just like to add that I think the other part of the problem is that too few people know how to cook anymore.

 

If you can cook fresh food (and do a bit of planning) you can eat really well for very little money.

 

Just as an example, maybe have roast chicken with all the trimmings on Sunday--chicken, potatoes, veg etc. If you leave at that, it would be expensive but, unless you have a large family, there'll be enough meat left on the chicken to make a curry or maybe a chicken and veg pie on Monday.

 

Then, on Tuesday, pull all the little scraps of chicken off the bones and simmer the carcass most of the day to make stock. Add a chopped onion, a chopped potato or two, some chopped carrot, at handful of something green (beans, leek, whatever), maybe a handful of frozen corn the chicken scraps and, if you like, half a tin of kidney or haricot beans. Simmer until the veg are tender and you have a lovely soup, probably enough for at least two meals.

 

or, instead of the veg, add chopped onion, finely chopped celery a third of a pack of cheap spaghetti broken into really short lengths and a bunch of parsley, either dried or fresh finely chopped. Simmer for 40-60 minutes and you have chicken noodle soup.

 

One chicken providing 4 meals.

 

Or, if you're even more broke, potato soup can be just some potatoes, chopped onion and a mix of stock (i.e. water and a veg stock cube) and milk makes a nourishing meal for the family for pennies a serve. Or throw in a couple handfuls of frozen corn and call it corn chowder.

 

All these ideas--even the original roast chicken dinner--work out cheaper than taking the family to Maccas.

 

You just have to know how to cook and have a bit of imagination to eat well on very little money. I know...been there, done that.

[Candygirl]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10175058/The-Great-British-Budget-Menu-BBC-One-review.html

 

I watched this programme and the three chefs found it incredibly difficult to feed these families healthy, fresh food on a budget.

 

In fact, they didn't do it.

 

I do agree that people do not know how to cook.

[pacticenurse]

^^^^ Agree! I've seen seriously overweight children at pre school age with a pasty in one hand and an energy drink in the other!!

I refuse to buy fizzy pop let alone energy drinks in my weekly shop,

Yes my kids love sweets and cakes and fast food too but there is a limit.

I know of people who never cook a nutritious meal, it's sad really, I grew up like many with a good hot meal on the table and helping my nan bake bread, I still bake my own bread and make healthy meals, but also love making triple chocolate cookies too now & then!

I saw a photograph of my friends 6year old niece out on a picnic with her friends, well not what I call a picnic! All had mcdonalds happy meals and fizzy pop sitting on a picnic blanket!

[Bobbsy]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10175058/The-Great-British-Budget-Menu-BBC-One-review.html

 

I watched this programme and the three chefs found it incredibly difficult to feed these families healthy, fresh food on a budget.

 

In fact, they didn't do it.

 

I do agree that people do not know how to cook.

 

I think we're talking about two different groups of people though.

 

Somebody trying to eat on the £1.66 per day is going to struggle horribly and I agree it would be darn near impossible to create a balanced diet on that.

However, there are also the people out there who, as per Perthbum's original post, claim that they can't afford fresh food and have to eat supermarket processed food and takeaways. I call bunkum on that--processed meals and take-.aways cost far more than buying fresh food and cooking for yourself.

 

We had a "cheap" takeaway tonight to celebrate Friday and, for what we spent on one meal, I could have fed the whole family for two or three days...with far healthier food.

[Gbye grey sky]

Agree with above but there are also changes to our lifestyle these days. 30/40 years ago housewives might food shop at least 2 or 3 times per week and go to green grocer, butcher etc. Now most families shop less frequently. Planning meals is hard and its easy to waste stuff. Processed food lasts longer because it's pumped full of sugar and fats so with less waste it can be cheaper. Supermarkets offer multi-buys which don't work for fresh food which goes off but does for processed food.

 

Not the whole story as it is a complex problem. Laziness is to blame for obesity (and I don't mean lack of exercise). We are encouraged to be lazy about food unfortunately - some need little encouragement though.

 

David

[Rupert]

I think it is probably to do with education about food than affordability and the lower social groups not learning so much about nutrition from parents. As for affordability, well often there are cheap fast food alternatives, the big burger chains often do dollar deals and a bar of chocolate can be cheaper than fruit at times ( certainly here).

[caramac]

I think it is probably to do with education about food than affordability and the lower social groups not learning so much about nutrition from parents. As for affordability, well often there are cheap fast food alternatives, the big burger chains often do dollar deals and a bar of chocolate can be cheaper than fruit at times ( certainly here).

 

 

So true. When you have children to feed for a week and you can get 28 Penguin biscuits for £1.50, I guess it must be too hard to refuse that and go for a bag of 6 apples when you're on a tight budget. There are offers on fruit and veg and buying in the evening when things are marked down, but they're rarely as 'good' as the ones on crisps and biscuits.

Cooking needs to be taught in schools again, along with classes on managing finances. It really shouldn't be so hard.

I think there is a time issue as well. People are often working long or unsocial hours and I guess the last thing they want to do when they get home is start cooking, even if they knew how to.

There are those who use food to keep their children quiet too though!

[Petals]

I personally think that its cheaper to feed a family on budget type food. I mean pizza which is the best of the junk food variety can go a long way for a family struggling on a budget.

 

Whereas good fruit and veg can be expensive, cooking is expensive now, the cost of putting on the oven and high power prices etc.

 

We cannot judge if we are all right jack.

 

Walk in my shoes comes to mind.

 

Its so easy for people to look and think to themselves, "why do they not eat healthy" "why do they smoke". However it seems to be ok to head home every night and crack open a good bottle of wine and have a drink. They are all empty calories and we are the role models for our children.

 

The biggest problem is the size of of food these days. Yesterday I went out with my friend and we had a late breakfast brunch. I ordered a bacon and egg sandwich, expecting to get a small bacon and egg sandwich, no I got two eggs lots of bacon and four pieces of huge bread. I had to leave most of it and found that rather embarrassing as it looked like I did not like it.

 

If I buy a sandwich to take away it has doorsteps on it.

 

Its not what we eat its how much of it we eat. If we went back to my grans time we used to have main course and sweet, sometimes soup as well but small helpings. We also walked everywhere.

 

These days children are not doing enough exercise and I know that my son who is a teacher tells me that if they put on some sort of run or sports day, the letters start coming saying little Billy and little Mary cannot do these activities.

 

So its not the people its society now. Just imagine if we got rid of the diet industry how many people would be out of work.

 

I myself have suffered with obesity due to a drug I had to take and my specialist told me no diet ever works, if it did there would only be one diet.

 

Fortunately for me I have lost the weight, however I know how those people suffer and I would never judge them I am not walking in their shoes.

[oz bound pom]

........ Laziness is to blame for obesity (and I don't mean lack of exercise). We are encouraged to be lazy about food unfortunately - some need little encouragement though.

 

David

 

Lack of exercise is most definitely, if not the biggest contributor to obesity. My nan liked nothing more than a beef dripping butty, wasted nothing, had more than a soft spot for cream cakes and chocolate washed down with copious amounts of tea. Crucially she never drove, walked everywhere and was very active. I firmly believe that the tv and car have done more to increase obesity than good vs bad food. Eat more calories than you use (whether they are from good food or bad food, eating excessively or leading a sedentary lifestyle) and you will put on weight.

Education has a large part to play but individuals have to take responsibility, and I'm sorry if you can't afford decent fruit and veg but can afford to smoke you'll get no sympathy from me. We don't smoke, 'treat' ourselves rarely to the odd drink but never begrudge spending money on fruit and veg etc. yes granted there will always be people who struggle to make ends meet but there always have been, in fact more so in the past when people knew the real meaning of poverty living in slums with no social security net to help them out. And before anyone has a pop, I'll be the first to admit I have inherited my nan's sweet tooth (although you can keep the dripping butty!) and I know how easy it is to put on weight and should probably do more exercise and I admit I'm lazy, easier to drive than walk etc but I don't go round blaming anyone else, I know what I should do, just like everyone else. Now where did I put that eclair.....

[dmjg]

So true. When you have children to feed for a week and you can get 28 Penguin biscuits for £1.50, I guess it must be too hard to refuse that and go for a bag of 6 apples when you're on a tight budget. There are offers on fruit and veg and buying in the evening when things are marked down, but they're rarely as 'good' as the ones on crisps and biscuits.

Cooking needs to be taught in schools again, along with classes on managing finances. It really shouldn't be so hard.

I think there is a time issue as well. People are often working long or unsocial hours and I guess the last thing they want to do when they get home is start cooking, even if they knew how to.

There are those who use food to keep their children quiet too though!

 

Cooking is still taught in schools, its called 'Cooking' where i teach. Financing is taught in Maths

 

Nutrition in science and soce.

 

VCAL contains even more if students go that route.

 

 

 

 

 

It gets infuriating constantly hearing 'schools have to teach it'

 

Schools are expected to teach more and more in the same time, with the same budget. (We all hear how much schools funding is increasing, but the government is giving with the left hand and taking with the right. Amazingly we never hear in the media about the taking part!)

 

Society continues to shift the blame on the schools, the parents are never at fault for their lack of contribution into their own kids lives.

[starlight7]

I think the obsession with obesity is just another nanny state thing- there have always been a few fatties around. It is their choice, same as people choose to smoke, drink or whatever else. Who are we to judge- there could be any number of reasons for it and not necessarily just laziness. I think one of the big issues is stress. Many people eat for comfort sake and if you are poor and have a difficult life, why not?

[Que Sera Sera]

Cooking is still taught in schools, its called 'Cooking' where i teach. Financing is taught in Maths

 

Nutrition in science and soce.

 

VCAL contains even more if students go that route.

 

 

 

 

 

It gets infuriating constantly hearing 'schools have to teach it'

 

Schools are expected to teach more and more in the same time, with the same budget. (We all hear how much schools funding is increasing, but the government is giving with the left hand and taking with the right. Amazingly we never hear in the media about the taking part!)

 

Society continues to shift the blame on the schools, the parents are never at fault for their lack of contribution into their own kids lives.

 

I agree schools here in WA definitely teach healthy eating, my sons old Primary were constantly teaching it. Even telling parents what they were allowed to put into lunches boxes . They had a "crunch & sip " in the afternoon to keep energy levels up, children were only allowed to bring fresh fruit or raw veggies. First thing in the morning the children were expected to run around the Oval before school.

[Guest Guest66881]

Our two little ones take drinks bottles, they are not allowed juice or cordial or fizzy (not that they have fizzy), only water is allowed, lunch boxes cannot contain sweets either.

[xxlornaxx]

When me n my husband first moved to a new area for a job we had very little money..my start date got delayed and we had pretty much no income for over 2months, we don't smoke or drink..we ate doughnuts n crisps daily (something I would not normally eat) as it was so cheap but filling, we could no way afford good food which we were initially surprised by..we used to get 6 big doughnuts or cookies for 40p at end of the day when reduced and family size bag of crisps for 50p from out of date section..we would also sometimes get a large pizza for a pound but I was dreading the electricy bill so wanted to keep costs low..although we never put on weight as we also couldn't afford a car or buses so we walked everywhere. I lost weight but as soon as we started earning n eating healthier I put it back on and more. We also got a car at this time n walked nowhere....sooooo I think obesity has less to do with affordable food and more about activity levels....although health wise u will feel crap with no energy on diet of sugar. It made me understand the difficuty families with little money must face n made me annoyed at ads stating eating healthy is cheaper...although takeaway food is def not an option when your skint..how horrible must it feel to not be able to afford to feed your children fresh fruit, veg, etc everyday...

[VERYSTORMY]

When I was in full time study, our income was considerably less than benefits. So money was very tight. But we always ate well. We lived in Leicester which has a huge market. A trip at the end of day when stall holders wanted to get rid of things and you could get amazing amounts of food for next to nothing. Also, knowing how to cook with cheaper cuts of meat can be a big boon. I used to make a broth that I sometimes still make. Used to get the ham end pieces for free from the local sandwich place, boil them, remove and take the meat off, add pearl barley, split peas and lentils, onion and what ever veg is available, put the meat back in. A huge pan of soup that could feed a family at least two meals for a couple of quid.

 

Lots of other similar dishes. Even fish and sea food. Then of course there is the option of free food. We used collect mussels and other shell fish as kids and mum would cook it. Likewise berries and things.

 

The comment above regarding chicken is very true. Also people should note, that with chicken it is better to splash out on an expensive one as the meat will be firmer and more of it on the bird so it goes further.

 

The fast food places do carry some of the blame as it is well known they target putting stores in areas of lower socio-economic backgrounds.

[xxlornaxx]

Should be more markets like that then that are easily accessed...ive never lived near one that was on more than once a month or cheap..

[VERYSTORMY]

I guess I am lucky. Always lived near a good market. One of the favs was mushrooms. On the right day, at the end of the day, you could get about a kilo for under a pound. Used to buy a couple of kg at a time. Make a huge pan of mushroom stroganoff and another of soup and freeze it in portions.

 

Lentils are another great one. My wife had a recipe for a basic lentil dish which we have since adapted and still eat now. Served with rice you can make masses of it for next to nothing. It's also nutritious.

[Bobbsy]

Hmmm...so many thoughts to reply to.

 

First off, I'm sorry but home made healthy eating is cheaper than buying processed stuff if you do it right. Even if you're using stuff from the out of date section--and you can't count on anything being there--you can also get clearance fruit and veg cheap at the end of the day.

 

If things are really tight I can make a big pot of vegetable soup or potato soup that'll last our family of 3 about 3 meals. It'll cost between 20 and 30 cents per person per meal and be a heck of a lot healthier than a diet of donuts and penguin bars. Too busy to cook? A soup takes around 10 minutes of prep then just simmers by itself for a while. That might be longer in total than something zapped in the microwave but, in terms of actual work, it's little more.

 

It's not just soups of course. Using the cheapest cuts of meat I can make hearty stews for only slightly more per person per meal than the soup.

 

Pizza has been mentioned. Depending on the topping, I guarantee I can make home made for less than the cheapest in the supermarket freezer. The only thing you have to watch when things are tight is that you need a stocked pantry--the jar of supermarket brand tomato paste may cost $1.50 but, once you have it, will make toppings for probably 12 or more pizzas.

 

Another person said something about it being a different world with people only shopping once a week--and processed food lasts longer. Partly true--but anything that spoils can just be cooked in the first few days for one meal, then served as leftovers later on.

 

Planning menus is difficult? Aw, c'mon. Planning a week takes a couple of minutes and, so long as you stick to the plan there's no waste. Have limited time due to work? Before I retired I was a commuter--on a train at 7AM and not home again until between 7 and 7:30PM. I got round this by planning my menu so I made anything that took time to cook at the weekend so I could reheat leftovers later in the week. Otherwise I'd plan in things that could be quickly cooked. It just takes a small amount of planning.

 

On the topic of teaching cooking at school, this certainly happens but I think it's far more important for children to see cooking done as a matter of course AT HOME. The best instruction in cooking at school is pointless if, at home, the children get a steady diet of microwave pizza and penguins.

 

Sorry, but I see most of the objections to healthy eating as excuses not fact.

[xxlornaxx]

Nah disagree...I eat healthy now as I can afford the food n the electricty n the trip to the futher away shops that sell a wider option to choose from...some may be excuses but not all...everyones experiences n priorities are different...family has changed too..kids may b fat due to getting food at mums, then dads, then ex step dads n then step mums n then round to numerous grannys before settling down with a coke in front of jeremy kyle

[starlight7]

When I was at uni we had no money but in halls they provided free sliced white bread and a toaster- so I had tons and tons of it with cheap strawberry jam just to fill up. I was underweight at the time if anything ( wish I was now!)- They also used to feed us cakes , disgusting ones, for morning and afternoon tea and same applied.

[Guest51810]

Im just lazy when it comes to cooking/food, i've always admited it

[LKC]

Grains are cheap. That means that things like bread, pasta, cakes, biscuits etc are cheap. Vegetables and meat cost more to produce, and therefore the cost is higher. Governments subsidise certain crops, such as cereal grains both for human consumption and for livestock feed, canola/rapeseed and so on, because they are more lucrative or have a greater financial benefit to the economy. They disregard the healthfulness of other crops, simply due to economic reasons. For example in the US, high fructose corn syrup, HFCS (which is found in many things these days) was invented as a way of using corn to sweeten foods. The original reason for its invention was due to the high price of sugar and the fact that there was a glut of corn, but it became a lucrative crop to grow. And so it became part of the western diet. HFCS is cheap as are grains, so the products in which they are used are cheap.

 

Add to that the message that we have been fed over the past few decades, that fat is bad and that it causes heart disease, and that wholegrains are healthy, and that we should eat x amount of fruit and veg per day (which by the way was a marketing campaign commissioned by a group of fruit growers who happened to have a surplus of fruit), and there is no wonder that we are all confused about which foods to eat.

 

If the cost of vegetable production and meat (pastured not grain fed) was subsidised in the same way as the 'cash crops', and the cost of real food was lower, rather than the industrially produced food-like substances that we see in abundance on our supermarket shelves, I can guarantee that the health of everyone would be improved.

[caramac]

Cooking is still taught in schools, its called 'Cooking' where i teach. Financing is taught in Maths

 

Nutrition in science and soce.

 

VCAL contains even more if students go that route.

 

 

 

 

 

It gets infuriating constantly hearing 'schools have to teach it'

 

Schools are expected to teach more and more in the same time, with the same budget. (We all hear how much schools funding is increasing, but the government is giving with the left hand and taking with the right. Amazingly we never hear in the media about the taking part!)

 

Society continues to shift the blame on the schools, the parents are never at fault for their lack of contribution into their own kids lives.

 

 

I'm absolutely not blaming schools, or teachers and I apologise for it coming across that way.

 

I completely agree that too many parents abdicate all responsibility for their children's education to others and it shouldn't be down to schools to sort out all the problems, but how do we get parents to be more engaged in their child's life? How do they teach their children how to cook or manage their finances if they've never learned themselves?

I would never blame teachers or schools for not addressing the problems especially when they're tied to such tight budgets, but if the governments truly want to tackle the issues they need to make funding and time available. I don't know, maybe tax from junk food could be used? None of them are even considering the longer term implications for health (physical and mental), or benefit costs.

Your school seems like it has a good approach - incorporate the subjects into existing lessons. My middle daughter, who is in sixth form, has just had a term of 'managing finances' to help them get ready for uni, but, having talked to friends with kids the same age, it's not the norm.