Obesity: Wider Income Gaps, Wider Waists
America should be scared for its children It is the first time where we could see shorter life expectancy in children. A reversal. Obesity also hurts social well-being. Kids are frequently bullied and picked on for their weight. As stated in earlier chapters, the rich used to be fat and the poor skinny. Nowadays, it has been reversed. In countries where the income difference is smaller, obesity is less of a problem. 30% of Americans are obese, that is 12 times higher than the adults in Japan. To give an idea of obesity rates in the U.S, rates don’t reach under 20%. The lowest is 21.5% is colorado and 34%, being the highest, in Texas. People in unequal countries are eating more and exercising less. High stress can also be a resulting reason as to why individuals in the U.S are obese. Stress can lead to stress eating. As seen from previous chapters, unequal US states have higher stress levels, which is now seen to be related to stress eating. Research shows that food stimulates the brain of overeaters the same way drugs stimulate addicts. The linkage between women and social status is pretty clear, whereas for men, it isn't as clear. Female obesity is linked to “...lower earnings in adulthood.” Voluptuous women were once admired in society, as it was once associated with wealth. Now however, thin and slim figured are more often pursued. It portrays the idea of high social status and attractiveness.
Marital status also plays a role. It is shown that women who are married tend to gain more weight than women who are single/divorced. However, being thin is not ideal in every community. In African communities, being thin is often associated with being on welfare, poverty and more. In communities such as these, curvuture and voluptuous females are admired and preferred.
Obesity has become a rising issue all throughout the United States. Our obesity rates are seen to be 2x higher than most places such as Japan. Obesity is inadvertently related to social status, stress/stress eating, social standards and more. The higher the inequality, the higher the chance that those individuals or their kids will suffer from obesity.
If a country is poor on health, one can predict that the country will be flawed in many other areas such as teen pregnancy, illnesses, and more. Health and social problems are more uncommon amongst unequal countries. Mental illness, imprisonment, obesity and many more are 5-6 times more likely to occur in an unequal society rather than that of a more equal society. In a place like Sweden, its death rate for working men and infants without a father are way lower when compared to places like England and Wales. Research shows that the benefits of greater inequality were greater in poor countries. As we saw from previous chapters, not only is health lacking in unequal countries but the education too. State income inequality is “...related to the proportion of African Americans in the state’s population.” Ethnic divides lead to wider income differences in society. People with and without string educational backgrounds, prove to do better in equal societies such as Finland. When Japan narrowed down its income differenced after the World War, the health of Japan improved rapidly.
