A long time ago, obesity was often used as a shorthand for wealth, but
over the decades obesity has become more and more correlated with
poverty, both in culture and science (while wealth is increasingly
correlated with being slim).
The trend is accelerating. Researchers from Cambridge University’s
Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) say the obesity gap
between the rich and poor is wider than ever.
It’s hard to pinpoint a single cause for this, but the usual suspects
are: the cheapest calories are the worst ones (carbs, sugars, etc);
exercise is expensive both in terms of cash (austerity has squeezed
community centres and parks) and time; the cognitive capacity that could
be used to plan better meals is absorbed by juggling bills, precarious
work, and increasingly expensive housing; high-quality food is more
expensive than ever and often not sold in the increasingly segregated
neighbourhoods where poor people live.
