I think fat people often eat too much food and too many of the wrong foods. I don’t think poor people are lazier than rich ones. I do think lots of rich people are lazier than poor ones, who often have to work harder and longer hours just to get by. I think the basic contention that rich people are generally thinner than poor people is false. I think the fact rich people in the media spotlight lose weight is due to liposuction, medicine abuse, eating disorders, having the tiem to exercise and abominible diets like high in fat and low in calories which I don’t think pay off in the long term.
In most countries fat=rich=attractive. If you’re hefty, that means you can afford to gorge yourself on food while everyone else is starving. that also means you can afford to be fat enough to not have to do your own productive labor: you can always hire someone to do it for you. The fact that such a large number of Americans are overweight is a testament to our wealth.
In America, thin=rich=attractive. Cheeseburgers cost 39 cents on Sunday and other delightfully cheap fattening foods are available at your local convenience store or gas station. It does cost time and money, however, to purchase exercise equipment or get a membership to a gym or get a personal trainer or to enroll in one of the many rather exhorbitant diet programs. Weight is not a reflection on laziness or any other attidudes. It’s just a reflection of having time and money to kill.
There was an article on the connection between America’s obesity epidemic and social class in the March 2000 issue of Harper’s Magazine (“Let Them Eat Fat” by Greg Critser).
Interesting article, although, like a lot of Harper’s stuff, it seemed to throw out some controversial ideas almost just for the sake of it, and generated some pretty angry letters to the editor in the May issue. [One of the more controversial things he said is that for every upper middle class white kid suffering from anorexia, there are many poorer kids who are morbidly obese. And this then led him to say that having a few more kids striving to look like Kate Moss might not be a bad thing…Just to give you fair warning if you are going to search this article out!]