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Obesity Growing Among Affluent
June 13 , 2005 by Doctor FitnessLong a problem of the poor, obesity growing among affluent, as reported by The Associated Press on May 2, 2005.
Richer are getting fatter MSNBC, report finds.
WASHINGTON - Obesity has long been a problem mostly of the poor, but new research shows that the more affluent are catching up fast. The prevalence of obesity is growing three times faster among Americans who make more than $60,000 a year than it is among their low-income neighbors, said a study being presented Monday at a meeting of the American Heart Association.
“This is a very surprising finding,” said the lead researcher, Dr. Jennifer Robinson of the University of Iowa.
It’s paradoxical, but for years doctors have known that the people most likely to be overweight have the lowest incomes. That’s because fresh produce and other healthy fare are more expensive and less accessible in low-income neighborhoods than are fast food and other high-fat options.
In fact, just last week a report criticized the government nutrition program that feeds millions of low-income women and children for, among other things, providing hardly any fresh produce and favoring high-calorie juice over nutritionally better fruit.
Longer commutes, work hours
But even as the nation’s obesity rates have ballooned since the 1970s, disposable income has too, and Robinson wondered what role the extra change was having on waistlines.
She and graduate student Nidhi Maheshwari, who presented the findings, culled decades of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, one of the government’s prime health databases, to compare obesity with family income.
In the early 1970s, 22.5 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were obese. By 2002, 32.5 percent of the poor were, they found.
Just 9.7 percent of people with incomes above $60,000 were obese in the 1970s — a figure that jumped to 26.8 percent in 2002.
For purposes of comparison, all the income figures were adjusted to reflect year 2000 dollars.
Money for quality food aside, higher-income people are thought to be better educated and have better access to health care, so why such a jump among them? Robinson can’t say, but she speculates that longer commutes, growing popularity of restaurants and possibly longer work hours since the 1970s are playing a role. 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The poor still are the most likely to be fat, said Dr. Adam Drewnowski of the University of Washington, a prominent expert on the problem. Moreover, since the ’70s, rates of extreme obesity — being 90 to 100 pounds or more overweight — have ballooned among lower-income groups, something the study doesn’t address, he said.
Affecting pretty much everybody
Further complicating attempts to compare income and obesity are cultural factors. Certain racial and ethnic groups positively equate a man’s girth with wealth — it’s a sign of success, Drewnowski said.
“I would caution against any attempts to interpret these data to say social differences have disappeared,” he stressed. “It just shows that obesity is a general problem and it’s now affecting pretty much everybody. ... But it would be very shortsighted to stop paying attention to the people who are most vulnerable.”
Robinson agreed. “I don’t want to take focus away from the serious racial and ethnic disparities,” she said.
But, she said, it’s likely that different factors play a role in spurring obesity among the middle class than the poor. “We need to have a lot more research ... to tailor our interventions to specific populations.”
Yet today, the obesity remedies most often recommended for Americans in general — eat fresh salads, go ride a bike — are impossible for many low-income families, Drewnowski said.
Exercise is hard in inner cities, where the streets may be too dangerous after working hours. Many grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods don’t stock expensive fresh produce. And people who work two or three jobs have little time to make home-cooked meals.
Doctor Fitness Talks:
Finally they have noticed that the dis-ease (i.e. that which causes discomfort) of fatness is affecting the well off. I noticed this along time ago.
It hasn’t speared anyone!
The comments of lead researcher, Dr. Jennifer Robinson, “This is a very surprising finding,” is more concerning then the result of the study and the call for further research is just the way researchers deal with a world they know nothing about.
People regardless of income status have the same problems, only difference when wealthier people get fat they can no longer use the excuse that they can’t afford healthier food.
The journey that most take when they gain weight begins far before there selection at either Mc Donalds or some other fast food joint.
The first choice to be made by either overweight less wealthy Americans or more affluent Americans is not why do I eat what I eat, but why should I eat what I eat?
Americans have no idea of the role of foods in the diet. It is more then eating low carb or eating low fat.
Acid or Alkaline waste
When we eat the food is combusted, it is broken down into ash, either the ash is basic (alkaline) or the ash is acidic. What makes the ash alkaline or acidic is the mineral content of the ash.
Minerals act as buffers
The higher mineral content then more alkaline. The main buffering minerals are sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, of course there are others but for the sake of time we will only list these. We store a majority of these in the skeleton (ie. osteoporosis is and acid disease and occurs when we deplete the buffers).
The processing systems of waste removal, is more then just going number one or two. Most organs can’t handle an acid condition outside the digestive system, the kidneys and the urinary tract. The genitourinary tract and kidneys can’t handle a pH (i.e measurement of acidity or alkalinity) of much less then 5, 5 is “100” times as acidic as water, with a pH of 7.
To neutralize the acids in waste either the food or the body has to provide the buffers. If the food is acid, lacking in buffers, our body will lend it from its reserves so the waste can be processed out.
Normal cell metabolism puts out waste (i.e your cells need to eat, you don’t and there are 60 trillion to be fed) in the forms of acids, so if the acid waste from cell metabolism and the acid ash from food (food provides energy in the from of H+ - That is the H part of the pH, the p stands for potential) exceed what is available from our diet or waste removal systems will borrow minerals to neutralize the acids. Cellular waste is removed through the lymphatic system and into circulation in the blood.
The blood pH is between 7.35 and 7.45, so to keep the blood at 7.4 it pulls out all stops to do it. If blood pH drops ever so slightly, lets say to 7.2 you die! It is that simple.
If the cell metabolism is or remains in a chronic state of low grade acidosis, over time the cell function is changed (DNA is altered- this happens in cancer and cancer patients are acidic).
http://www.biochem.arizona.edu/dept/ppl/Profiles/gillies.html
One of the human bodies waste elimination spots, are in adipose tissue, fat cells. We store toxins there, toxins are acids. This same thing occurs in animals, so it is smart not to eat fat on meat products.
So it is safe to say that people who carry excess weight are acidic.
It is also safe to say when they try to lose weight sometimes they have flu like systems which are the acids (toxins) being released along with the parasitic yeast that are now dying off which are part of the whole pH issue. These living organisms produce acids we have to eliminate and sometimes control our desire to eat high carbohydrate, highly processed foods.
They like the stuff!
To lose weight regardless of how much money you have, focus on vegetables, small amount of fruit as your alkaline foods (70%), and proteins and good fat as your acid foods (20%- 10% and not least is the emotional/spiritual link- we will talk about that later). Grains are acid forming, along with legumes, so get your carbs from an alkaline source and acids should only be proteins with some fat. Once and for all weight loss will be forever and you’ll feel great.
Lance Dreher does assessments for $99.00. If you are interested call 480-951-7177. The Fitness Institute has 2 locations, Scottsdale and Arrowhead.
Lance Dreher is a frequent contributor to East Valley Living and his articles are regularly featured in Health/Doctor Fitness Talks.
