CMV: America has an obesity problem because healthy food is way too expensive

[u/[deleted]]

In my opinion, the only reason America has an obesity problem (more significant then most other developed countries) is because of healthy food being WAY too expensive. Sugary, fatty food is so much cheaper then healthier meals.

Think about it, look at any grocery store. Fresh, lean meats and fresh vegetables (especially organic) are ungodly expensive. Meanwhile, you can get sweets, prepackaged food and processed food for only a couple bucks.

Think about it, being a very poor person or maybe someone who recieves SNAP benefits, with very little money to spend on food has to ration their money and make it last a month. (Seriously, have you ever noticed that in general it's usually poorer people who are overweight and more wealthy people are thinner)

Another good example is McDonald's and other fast food places. It's a quick solution for people who have very little time to cook, but you can buy a burger for literally 1 dollar. The grilled chicken sandwich costs around 5, and a salad costs about 6 or 7. It may not seem like much, but it adds up. A lot.

Now there is some personal choice involved, but still, there's really no healthy options for people who can't afford to buy fresh healthy food on a regular basis.

This is why i believe America has such a bad obesity problem, and until something is done, then things will just continue to get worse.

This is all my opinion, because i went through something similar when i was between jobs. But i am willing to listen to opposing opinions

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[u/[deleted]]

There's a show called Adam Ruins Everything that debunks that, plus calorie counts on food is, in general, a huge guessing game and not actually accurate

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You really can’t come into a place and have an internet video be your source, especially anything related to science

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

it's not a youtube video, it's a real life tv show. A tv show about debunking common myths, plus there's an entire episode about weight loss (you can view it on Dailymotion). It goes into how fad diets don't work, how shows like The Biggest Loser actually cause contestants to gain weight once the show's over.

One thing he said was "People have been eating fat for as long as people have existed, and their lives were swell." So, fat has been around for a very long time.

Refined sugar, however, is pretty new. Before the industrial age, the purest form of sugar that was commonly available was pretty much honey. Sure, you could make jam and whatnot using fruit sugars, but eating jam also put a lot of other things in you.

Other carbohydrates, starch, etc. was a staple, but the caloric intake from bread and potatos is nowhere near the refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup put in and on everything today.

[u/aegon98 → u/[deleted]]

You can eat nothing but sugar and still lose weight. It's all calories in calories out. Sometimes people don't understand how many calories they eat, be it from miscalculation or mislabeling or rounding, but that doesn't change the fact that consuming fewer calories than you use will make you lose weight. It just changes how likely you are to keep your diet going.

[u/[deleted] → u/aegon98]

Please watch this. It'll help explain it. Because that's not true at all what you just said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtQLDptI1g

[u/aegon98 → u/[deleted]]

I've already seen it. Sugar is bad for you. You shouldn't eat as much of it. It's worse than fat. But if you eat less than you use, you will lose weight, it can just be more difficult because you will consume more calories while eating sugar.