The Rich Are Getting Fatter

It may be politically incorrect to speak of it, but for years, it’s been well known that poor people were more likely to be obese than rich people. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys show that in the early 1970s, 22.5 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were obese, while among people with incomes over $60,000, only 9.7 percent were obese. But as this story in the Washington Post reports, time has changed all that. By 2002, the percentage of obesity among the poor had risen to 32.5 percent, and the percentage of obesity among the higher income group leaped to 26.8 percent. What happened? To make a long answer short, no one really knows, but the Post quotes experts suggesting that longer commutes, longer work hours, and a greater appreciation for dining have contributed to the trend.