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Poverty causes obesity. Low-income families need to be better off to eat well - The Guardian

Poverty causes obesity. Low-income families need to be better off to eat well - The Guardian

Poverty causes obesity. Low-income families need to be better off to eat well - The Guardian
Aug 09, 2020 1 min, 9 secs

To cut obesity people need support and jobs.

In 1990, about 11% of a typical US state’s population was classified as obese and no state had an adult obesity rate of more than 15%.

By 2015, there were several states – such as Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia – where the obesity rate was over 35% and no state had an obesity rate of less than 20%.

“In one generation, the change has been so dramatic that the obesity rate in any US state in 2015 would have been an extreme outlier in the US in 1990,” the paper notes.

Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia are all among the poorer US states, so the paper also explored whether there was a link between income and obesity.

In states where the median income was below $45,000 (£34,500) a year, obesity levels were more than 35%, whereas in states where median income was above $65,000 a year obesity levels were less than 25%, such as Colorado, California and Massachusetts.

If governments are serious about tackling obesity, they need to ensure special attention is paid to low-income families.

They need to use the tax system so that employers have the incentive to hire rather than fire; they should be more generous with tax credits to top up the incomes of the working poor; and they should resist pressure to reduce budget deficits by cutting benefits

There will be less obesity when people can afford to eat better – and more expensive – food

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