Economic status and obesity


This is interesting. Even with the same diet, poor people (not just kids) gain more weight than rich folks. Further, in countries where the social system changed, such as the former East Germany or Lithuania, poor people have had an increase in body mass index and cardiovascular risk factors. And it seems to be based on the level of inequality, not on the absolute level of income. Of course, the skinny nazis would say that the poor should just eat less to compensate for their body producing too many stress hormones. Even better yet, take control of their bodies and tell their bodies to quit producing so many stress hormones.

To which I reply: quit being rich and taking up so many scarce resources, crowding me out of the market. Then I might not be so stressed out about where I'm going to live when starter homes are going for $200,000 in the DC metro area, and who's going to pay for schools, and who's going to pay for retirement. It's all personal responsibility for our neighbor, as expressed by our president's favorite political philosopher. You may remember the guy, executed by a governor when he was 33.

When rich and poor kids eat the same diet, poor ones get fatter

The centre of this poverty-obesity link is a hormonal pathway known as the
HPA axis. This is a loop connecting the hypothalamus, a jellybean-size part
of the brain that governs appetite, and the pituitary and adrenal glands,
which secrete a variety of hormones, including the stress hormone cortisol.

Cortisol helps the liver convert fat into the lightning bursts of energy
the body needs to escape danger, a vital function. But it also signals the
body to accumulate mounds of fat in the abdomen, building the 'apple' shape
that is so hazardous to health.

'When you have too much cortisol, you have Cushing's disease, which is an
illness that causes central fat deposition,' says Dr. Goodman.

Once this fat builds up, it spews a toxic array of chemical signals back to
the brain and into the body. 'It's a vicious cycle,' she says.

Research shows children raised in low socioeconomic settings produce
greater amounts of cortisol, a stress hormone.

(snip)
While many people blame mothers and fathers for the obesity of their
children, research shows parenting styles -- strict, abusive, lax or
indifferent -- make little difference. A Duke University study published
this year in the journal Pediatrics tracked nearly 1,000 white North
Carolina children aged nine to 16 for a period of eight years. Young boys
-- but not girls -- seemed especially vulnerable to dual cases of
depression with obesity. And researchers found kids from poorer families
tended to be most overweight. But how their parents brought them up, strict
or lenient, seemed to make no difference.

(snip)
After the reunification of Germany in 1990, the body mass indexes of East
German children and young adults rose sharply compared with those in West
Germany. German public health officials say class inequalities rose after
reunification, leading to poverty and unemployment, which had powerful
health effects.

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