Oct 10
14
For richer and for poorer
Hey Again! I hope all of you are doing quite well and finding much activity in your life.
Previously we’ve talked about the importance of having both a proper meal plan and exercise and how these two factors are synergistic to one another. We also talked about the overwhelming facts that our children are getting fatter faster than ever and that for the first time in our society, our kids are statistically more like to die at a younger age than we might. Very frightening!
Today I want to share with you how your income plays a role in your health. Now, there are alot of fun little facts about how a person’s income or wealth relates to their overall health. Today we’ll just focus on a couple of areas.
Historically, only lower-income groups had a major problem with obesity. This statistic is rapidly changing. In the early 1970s, 22.5 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were obese, while just 9.7 percent of people with incomes over $60,000 were obese. Obvious contributing factors were education, more involved parenting, and having the means for being proactive toward child care.
Today, however, the obesity rate is growing the fastest among Americans who make more than $60,000 a year.
Since higher-income groups tend to eat “healthier,” or at least can afford to change their diets more easily, 
this is another signal that our exercise habits have become dangerously low. Some obvious signs as to why this is taking place are based around money.
Kids with the greatest access to TV, computers, and video games have more excuses not to get outside and move. Another reason the ‘more wealthy are getting fatter’ is the declining number of children who walk or bike to school.
There’s nothing like trading in a couple hours of active play each day for playing with a Game Boy in an idling SUV for all but halting a child’s metabolic process. In addition to a declining number of recess periods and poor school lunch programs, we’re setting our children up with an ideal recipe for type 2 diabetes.
The number of obese children is still rising among all socioeconomic classes, and it will keep growing unless lifestyle changes are made and people become more aware of the situation.
No economic class is immune to obesity. Especially hard on the lower classes is the fact that the least healthy foods also tend to be the cheapest, making it very difficult for children from that socioeconomic background to eat properly. Cheap foods tend to have a higher sugar content than natural, healthy food.
There is only one way to combat a high-sugar diet, and that’s with a lot of rigorous exercise. Even so, we all know that you simply CANNOT outtrain a bad diet. So, just because you or your kids are out in the backyard playing tag or raking the leaves, once you head inside for the ice cream snack and the pizza rolls dinner you’ve just sabotaged all that exercise.
Also, keep in mind that I’m not telling you that people who make less money are better off as far as their health goes. Nor am I telling you that the more wealthy are all overweight or obese. And, I’m not saying that the overweight and wealthy people should give up their cash or head to the poor house. I’m saying that we have to re-evaluate our place in life. We have to re-evaluate how we care for ourselves and our families and decide if we are giving them our best.
Be good to your family, take care of your family, get active with your family, and prepare nutritious and tasty meals with your family.
If you’d like to learn more about our recipe book full of awesome-tasting and good-for-you recipes just leave a post or send us an email.
Chuck Walker MA, LAT, ATC
