Posted on 09/27/2005 7:01:19 PM PDT by NJRighty
September 27, 2005 Poor Have Difficulty Eating Healthy Foods By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE (AP) -- Laurieann Cossey has always struggled with her weight. Four years ago, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Now, six months pregnant and struggling to get by, the single mother tries to make sure her 1-year-old son gets the fruits and vegetables he needs.
''I worry a lot about my son being obese,'' said Cossey, whose mother and grandmother also had diabetes.
Cossey, a 43-year-old community college student, and her son, Andrew, survive on food stamps, trips to the food bank, and a state program for pregnant women and their children that provides essentials such as dairy products, fruit juice and cereal.
She knows they should both be eating more fruits and vegetables. But the foods on the government's new food pyramid are too expensive. Boxed macaroni and cheese costs less than a dollar to feed the whole family; a fresh chicken breast and steamed vegetables cost about $2.60/
The poor have more barriers to dealing with obesity, eating healthy and leading an active life, said Dr. Lydia Tinajero-Deck said/
Dr. David L. Katz of Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center advocates vegetable subsidies. He favors the idea of a junk food tax that would use the money to lower the price of vegetables, as well as pay for anti-obesity programs/
Crane said PCC would be happy to see more funding for government programs that get produce to low-income families/
He also argues for research to map the geographical distribution of obesity rates and spoke about obesity by ZIP code at a conference over the summer. An ''atlas of obesity'' would help policymakers know where to focus their programs, he said/
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A few myths things to be overturned. The government food pyramid, going to the local welfare grocery store,etc. I'll have to come back to this thread with my in detail observations later or tomorrow.
Women and children hardest hit.
I would like to see how many of these people that claim they cannot afford healthy food, would test positive for drugs.
So, are you trying to tell me that getting all of your stuff from those "rent to own" places isn't a good idea?
Been poor a long time and we eat like kings. LOL
You are comparing a restricted diet due to blood pressure; and a healthy diet.
What is cheaper than veggies? Hamburger and noodles, a can of cream of mushroom soup, some milk and you have the basic's covered. Not as easy as McDonalds, but a heck of a lot cheaper and it's healthier.
Only in America are the poor so fat that they are running epidemic levels of Diabetes.
"So, are you trying to tell me that getting all of your stuff from those "rent to own" places isn't a good idea?"
LOL. Paying twice as much isn't the smartest thing to do?
Here where I live there are literally 26 chinese foods restaurants, god knows how many delis and bodegas, and ten 'independent' grocery stores. While I was unemployed over the summer, I scraped together spare change,etc. and got a bag full of fresh veggies and fruits for $7.00 half I'd juice and the other half I ate. Usually last me about two days. I knew I could buy a cheap hotdog or something similar for much less than a bunch of organic bananas or apples but I consider my health. Also, I planted a vegetable garden (which helped a lot!).
Ironic. Vegetables have come a long way from their status of being fare for the poor and downtrodden. In the medieval period, high-calorie, energy-rich meats, sweets, and finer breadstuffs (cakes, cookies, pastries, etc.) had traditionally been reserved for the noble classes. The Irish Gallowglasses were famed for being 'well-fed' on a diet of 'beef, butter, and beer,' which enabled them to cultivate magnificent fighting physiques; peasants, on the other had, largely had to make do with cabbage and turnips.
But then, sometime in the course of history, we invented refined sugar and corn syrup. Not to mention meat industry subsidies. So now our poor can eat as kings once did, and blame Bush for the fact that they've gotten fat because of it.
The subsidized apartment complex that was built near my neighborhood has a whole crapload of satellite dishes hanging off of the balconies. Glad I'm paying their rent so they can get Showtime...
You know, articles like these are just poppycock and do nothing but make good people mad, that's all.
It's free to jog down the street to get exercise, and healthy eating can easily be attained. Whatever happened to buying a can of chicken broth (or cut-up chicken), vegetables, mix with salt and pepper, and throw it in a big old crockpot which will feed a dozen people and probably cost under $10.
The fastest route to financial independence is 'Watch what poor people do, and don't do it.'
I guess I should think twice before I take up sharecropping, then.
Being fat, having color tv's, xbox's, and PS2's. Man, being poor American style sure does suck.""
You forgot the Air Jordan's........only about $175.00 a pair. The mosxt I have ever spent for shoes is 59.99---just last week for a pair of New Balance extra wides- they cost extra.
You just discriped my childhood to a "T"
My granny would be so proud.
"She needs to watch for the sales and buy a WHOLE chicken, cut it up and make it stretch 3 meals."
And boil the chicken first, so she can get chicken soup out of that bird. And close her legs so she doesn't have any more mouths to feed.
Know what you are saying. Been there done that. The hardest thing to learn is control. It is so easy after having a bad day to just eat junk. Price is a factor but learning to control after being able to eat what ever you want when ever you want is the hardest part. Biggest thing I learned was to eat in stages. Eat something while something else is cooking. Don't prepare eveything then sit down to eat. If you eat slower you are body has time to get that full feeling so you are less likely to over eat. The other thing is to eat a bunch of small meals rather then a few big ones. If you starve yourself, your body wants to load up when you do eat.
Yeah, and then watch them come take it away when you don't make that 48th and final payment.
Being fat, having color tv's, xbox's, and PS2's. Man, being poor American style sure does suck.""
You forgot the Air Jordan's........only about $175.00 a pair. The mosxt I have ever spent for shoes is 59.99---just last week for a pair of New Balance extra wides- they cost extra.
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