Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

+1 c'mon, are none of you all children of the 70s or 80s?! I was born in the late 70s, and remember eating a bologna sandwich on white bread for lunch pretty much every day in elementary school. Washed down by one of those "Hug" barrels of sugary juice. With a side of Cheeto's. That was a pretty typical lunch in the 80s. The vast majority of vegetables we ate came from a can. Fruit was primarily red delicious apples.

But I wasn't obese; not even close. One, the number of calories eaten was not that high, even though the food was crap. Two, we were very active.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's also car culture and not letting kids run around. I've talked to adults who won't want to walk half a mile.

I disagree. You can’t outrun a bad diet.

Perhaps not, but exercise has a lot of multiplier effects:

- Increases metabolism
- Increase endorphins, so you are less likely to fall into bad moods which can cause unhealthy eating
- Takes up time, so you have less time to sit around, be bored, reach for a snack
- Maybe it’s just me, but after a hard workout I don’t even feel hungry. I’m too tired to eat and just want to rest!

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

What a clueless and judgmental comment. Do you work multiple jobs? Cooking from scratch requires meal planning and shopping ahead, and then cooking and dishes. It’s not simple laziness.

NP. I *guarantee* you if every adult who “doesn’t have time” to cook at home would quit their Instagram/TikTok/DCUM habit for a week, they would magically find time. Priorities

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

There are foods that low income people count on that have a high caloric count. My small example was about poor quality food not excessive calories but I can see how that could happen over a long period of time. I know quite a few families from South America who are living in this country, some illegally, some not. They are all in good shape, not overweight. It’s more of an American problem not a genetic one.

You’ve never seen a fat Mexican ?

I don’t know anyone from Mexico. I’m not saying South Americans are all thin (Mexicans don’t come from South America). I’m just saying that low income doesn't always equal overweight.

How do you not know anyone from Mexico? What kind of rock do you live under?

DP here. We aren’t allowed to ask anyone where they are from, remember? Just asking the question is racist.

Why do you have to ask?

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

No duh. But eating a fresh, minimally processed, high fiber diet (that is linked to being fuller more easily) requires money, access, and education. You cannot possibly think that a person who can afford whatever they want at Whole Foods 2X/week who is getting fresh high quality food at every meal, is just “better at not overeating.” The body will keep being hungry until it’s nutritional needs are met. So, after eating 2000 calories of inferior food, *you will still be very hungry.* Whereas most people are not left as hungry following a day of balanced eating with fresh foods. Store bought wheat bread is also leaded with crap, by the way!

Holy excuses Batman!!

Also love how it’s always Whole Foods vs 7-11 with your type. You can get perfectly good, healthy food at Giant, Safeways, Aldi’s, etc.

Sigh. Of course you can. Change “Whole Foods” to the name of any grocery store of your choosing. The remainder of the post stands.

It absolutely does not stand. If it did you wouldn’t have gone straight to Whole Foods in the first place.

The reference to Whole Foods is a reference to privilege. It is a privileged stance to think you are simply “better at portion control” than a person who does not have your same advantages.

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

No duh. But eating a fresh, minimally processed, high fiber diet (that is linked to being fuller more easily) requires money, access, and education. You cannot possibly think that a person who can afford whatever they want at Whole Foods 2X/week who is getting fresh high quality food at every meal, is just “better at not overeating.” The body will keep being hungry until it’s nutritional needs are met. So, after eating 2000 calories of inferior food, *you will still be very hungry.* Whereas most people are not left as hungry following a day of balanced eating with fresh foods. Store bought wheat bread is also leaded with crap, by the way!

I grew up lower middle class without college educated parents and we had to very strictly budget. My mom added up her grocery cart in her head each week because she knew she couldn’t go over budget. We minimized junk food and takeout because it was BOTH expensive and unhealthy. We ate a lot of old school “meat and potatoes” type rules because mom was southern. No weight issues in our house.

That’s great. It serves the point that “real” food is more filling and less likely to be overeaten.

Yes I was making the point that she was busy and not well-off (she worked full time too) and still managed to feed us simple filling meals that did not make us fat. Because she viewed it as an important part of her parenting job. We ate a lot of soups, stews, casseroles, lasagnas, roasted chicken, london broils, pork loins, etc. Almost always had a cooked vegetable and a potato/pasta/rice of some kind. Interestingly we didn't drink a lot of water (it was the 80's) but had a lot of juice, tea, and lemonade, fruit punch, etc. and none of us have blood sugar or weight issues.

She had the education, means and ability/access to feed you well. Despite not being well off. Not everyone has those things!

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

No duh. But eating a fresh, minimally processed, high fiber diet (that is linked to being fuller more easily) requires money, access, and education. You cannot possibly think that a person who can afford whatever they want at Whole Foods 2X/week who is getting fresh high quality food at every meal, is just “better at not overeating.” The body will keep being hungry until it’s nutritional needs are met. So, after eating 2000 calories of inferior food, *you will still be very hungry.* Whereas most people are not left as hungry following a day of balanced eating with fresh foods. Store bought wheat bread is also leaded with crap, by the way!

I grew up lower middle class without college educated parents and we had to very strictly budget. My mom added up her grocery cart in her head each week because she knew she couldn’t go over budget. We minimized junk food and takeout because it was BOTH expensive and unhealthy. We ate a lot of old school “meat and potatoes” type rules because mom was southern. No weight issues in our house.

That’s great. It serves the point that “real” food is more filling and less likely to be overeaten.

Yes I was making the point that she was busy and not well-off (she worked full time too) and still managed to feed us simple filling meals that did not make us fat. Because she viewed it as an important part of her parenting job. We ate a lot of soups, stews, casseroles, lasagnas, roasted chicken, london broils, pork loins, etc. Almost always had a cooked vegetable and a potato/pasta/rice of some kind. Interestingly we didn't drink a lot of water (it was the 80's) but had a lot of juice, tea, and lemonade, fruit punch, etc. and none of us have blood sugar or weight issues.

+1 I grew up very lower class/working class with two FT working parents (mom went back FT as soon as the family could break even on childcare- I think youngest sib was 2 or 3). Very tight budget and we qualified for food stamps for several short periods when my dad was not getting overtime at work, which we relied on. My mom did almost all of the cooking and took pride in feeding us/cooking. She considered it very important. She made lots of soups and stews from scratch, casseroles (baked ziti or chicken broccoli rice etc) and some other easy recipes to eat during the week. Frozen veg or iceberg lettuce salad on the side. She shopped around meat sales, often prepped on the weekends (roasting an extra whole chicken or whatever was on sale) or in the evenings after kids were in bed. Sometimes she wasn’t home for dinner so would leave reheating instructions for my dad or kids when we were old enough. My dad did not enjoy cooking but would make eggs/omelets, chili and a few other simple dishes if nothing was prepped. They could’ve thrown in the towel and fed us fish sticks and boxed Mac and cheese but did not.

That isn’t to say everyone can do the same, and I do understand the challenges for some make this impossible. Lack of transportation or kitchen facilities, food deserts etc. But it is also true that some parents could do so much better but lack cooking or planning skills or are just plain lazy. Too tired to make dinner yet find hours to spend on their phone or watching Netflix.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

That’s a great solution for your family, and it’s also a perfect example of why poor families often eat less well than wealthier families. A single mom who works long hours and barely gets home in time to take her child to practice doesn’t have time to make and pack bentos for dinner. Wealthier people have A LOT more time than the working poor do. Healthy food takes time to shop and plan and cook and pack and clean up.

Once again, fully two thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. They’re not all poor single mothers working three jobs, nor were the majority of them raised by poor single mothers working three jobs.

What’s the explanation?

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

That’s a great solution for your family, and it’s also a perfect example of why poor families often eat less well than wealthier families. A single mom who works long hours and barely gets home in time to take her child to practice doesn’t have time to make and pack bentos for dinner. Wealthier people have A LOT more time than the working poor do. Healthy food takes time to shop and plan and cook and pack and clean up.

Car dinner poster here. I am a single mother with full custody and very little help who works a lot. I am not wealthy. I batch cook chilis and sauces and stews after my child is asleep and freeze them for later use. I make the pasta or rice in the morning while I make breakfast and pack lunch. Then when it’s time for practice or whatever all I have to do it throw everything in the microwave. You could do similar with the bento boxes the other poster described.

Other nights when we are home I cook a full dinner, but I plan for leftovers and I have some sides I batch cook and freeze.

I also make our bread from scratch and make a lot of our desserts from scratch as well. Healthy diet is a priority for me.

It’s easy to make excuses but it’s also easy to feed your family a good diet of home cooked, whole, foods if you do some planning and smart shopping.

I feel like I live in an educated, liberal area where people understand their privilege until I read a thread like this.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

That’s a great solution for your family, and it’s also a perfect example of why poor families often eat less well than wealthier families. A single mom who works long hours and barely gets home in time to take her child to practice doesn’t have time to make and pack bentos for dinner. Wealthier people have A LOT more time than the working poor do. Healthy food takes time to shop and plan and cook and pack and clean up.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I think eating healthy requires either $ OR time. I fully agree with what you’ve said (eating healthy is MUCH cheaper if you know what you are doing) but a lot of times lower income homes also have a lot of family problems/instability and other issues such as lack of a car to transport groceries home, no fully functioning kitchen/storage, cooking knowledge etc. So, it is easier to just get frozen pizza, microwave stuff, snack food or whatever.

Everyone has time to cook simple meals. People are just lazy and look for the easiest possible way to feed themselves and their kids. With so many options, most people will pick the junk convenience foods

OP - I concur on this point. My kids have sports 5 days a week and instead of getting take out 5 days a week (because that is absolutely disgusting) I have bento boxes that I pack ahead of time and bring healthy dinners with us on the road. Kid who has practice eats before practice and kids who are just there to watch/play can eat while their sibling is practicing. Then when they are home and showered they can have a snack later (usually cut up applies, cheese sticks, mozarella sticks, etc) before bed.

I love this! I do similar, I call it “car dinner” but I usually do something hot, like homemade chili and rice, homemade pasta sauce and pasta etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

There are foods that low income people count on that have a high caloric count. My small example was about poor quality food not excessive calories but I can see how that could happen over a long period of time. I know quite a few families from South America who are living in this country, some illegally, some not. They are all in good shape, not overweight. It’s more of an American problem not a genetic one.

You’ve never seen a fat Mexican ?

I don’t know anyone from Mexico. I’m not saying South Americans are all thin (Mexicans don’t come from South America). I’m just saying that low income doesn't always equal overweight.

How do you not know anyone from Mexico? What kind of rock do you live under?

DP here. We aren’t allowed to ask anyone where they are from, remember? Just asking the question is racist.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

There are foods that low income people count on that have a high caloric count. My small example was about poor quality food not excessive calories but I can see how that could happen over a long period of time. I know quite a few families from South America who are living in this country, some illegally, some not. They are all in good shape, not overweight. It’s more of an American problem not a genetic one.

You’ve never seen a fat Mexican ?

I don’t know anyone from Mexico. I’m not saying South Americans are all thin (Mexicans don’t come from South America). I’m just saying that low income doesn't always equal overweight.

How do you not know anyone from Mexico? What kind of rock do you live under?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a high poverty school and by 5th-6th grade, nearly every student is overweight. It's sad. Some of them stayed overweight as they grew but some of them were a normal weight and then just packed on the pounds.

Schools are a huge part of the problem. Our high poverty school has free breakfast and lunch for all. It’s all garbage food. Considering the high obesity rate-kids aren’t starving, they are overfed. Schools need to keep it simple, have a couple heathy options and that is it. White milk, apples, peanut butter/cold cut sandwich. And no chips/candy as prizes and incentives for everything

You just made it clear you don't actually understand what food insecurity is like. It is not wasting away into thinness. It is the inability to afford healthy food. That can come with a lack of TIME as well. Shopping, cooking and food prep takes time, which many struggling families don't have. Have you ever thought about what the food in your house would look like if you have to take public transportation to collect it?

It is not simply "lazy poor parents feed their kids chips and soda all the time". It's much more complicated than that. But it gets you all off the hook to vote for people who might actually HELP these children if you can just blame their lazy, fat parents.

No, sorry, that is BS. Basics are cheap. Eggs, milk, oatmeal, beans are cheap. Immigrants and poor people in less developed countries manage to cook basic simple food on a tight budget. But American poor people can’t manage this. Easier to hit up the drive thru. It’s easy to eat a lot of junk when using the government money and free school food

I don’t know. I remember around 2008 when the housing crisis hit and my husband lost his company and left with some big debt. I could no longer go to the store and just buy groceries without looking at the prices. One time, and I’ll never forget it, I had $18 and some change to get two or three days worth of food. The generic whole wheat bread was twice as expensive as the generic white bread so I got the cheap white bread. I had to think of food that fills a stomach not quality food. Basic pasta with cheap tomato sauce, they had buy one hot dog pack get one free. No snacks or deserts. No fresh vegetables.

This lasted about three months of a very limited budget. I can’t imagine a lifetime. I suppose there are smart cooks out there who can take the basics and make something appetizing out of it but I couldn’t.

Poor quality low nutrient food can absolutely negatively impact your health in the long term. It will NOT, however, make you obese. Unless you eat TOO MUCH of it. Unless you think that a slice of white bread contains substantially more calories than wheat bread? (Hint: it doesn’t- maybe 10-20 calories per slice depending on the brand.)

No duh. But eating a fresh, minimally processed, high fiber diet (that is linked to being fuller more easily) requires money, access, and education. You cannot possibly think that a person who can afford whatever they want at Whole Foods 2X/week who is getting fresh high quality food at every meal, is just “better at not overeating.” The body will keep being hungry until it’s nutritional needs are met. So, after eating 2000 calories of inferior food, *you will still be very hungry.* Whereas most people are not left as hungry following a day of balanced eating with fresh foods. Store bought wheat bread is also leaded with crap, by the way!

I grew up lower middle class without college educated parents and we had to very strictly budget. My mom added up her grocery cart in her head each week because she knew she couldn’t go over budget. We minimized junk food and takeout because it was BOTH expensive and unhealthy. We ate a lot of old school “meat and potatoes” type rules because mom was southern. No weight issues in our house.

That’s great. It serves the point that “real” food is more filling and less likely to be overeaten.

Yes I was making the point that she was busy and not well-off (she worked full time too) and still managed to feed us simple filling meals that did not make us fat. Because she viewed it as an important part of her parenting job. We ate a lot of soups, stews, casseroles, lasagnas, roasted chicken, london broils, pork loins, etc. Almost always had a cooked vegetable and a potato/pasta/rice of some kind. Interestingly we didn't drink a lot of water (it was the 80's) but had a lot of juice, tea, and lemonade, fruit punch, etc. and none of us have blood sugar or weight issues.