Wealthy women tend to have more time to go to the gym

Did you know that being rich or poor and well educated or not can have an effect on whether you are overweight or obese and that if you are a woman the effect is even more dramatic? The research released by the US National Center for Health Statistics shows that the socioeconomic background of an individual has less impact on men than it does on women.

To analyze the data the researchers used something called the Poverty Income Ratio (PIR) and they saw that the higher the PIR and the greater the education the less likely the women were to be obese.  Interestingly however when race was factored in it was observed that black men and Mexicans were more likely to be obese when they became wealthier.

Probably however the most important finding that came out of the study was that all groups independent of income or level of education have become more obese over the last twenty years. This shows clearly that whatever you earn, how well educated you are, whether male or female or whether you are black or white it is still possible to be affected by the growing obesity problem in the United States.

Socioeconomic norms and the cultural attitudes of specific groups of people play a big part in regulating the eating habits and ultimately the weight of individuals. Among poorer economic groups there is definitely a big acceptance of being overweight and obese especially among women. Wealthy women tend to have more time to go to the gym and to prepare healthy nutritious food. For working women struggling to keep things together fast food is a cheap and easy option.

At Ukmedix News we have seen how a lack of education can lead to individuals really not understanding what food is good for them and what is doing them a lot of harm. To a lot of people it is pretty obvious that you need to eat fruit and vegetables and stay away from fast food, but to others who have been brought up in a fast food culture this is a revelation. Changing long established eating habits and attitudes to food is often the most difficult challenge for individuals wanting to lose weight.