Too bad they didn't include the number of calories from fat and/or simple sugars, and the grams of sodium (salt) from the package labels.

Hey Goat,

May you never have to live on or near the poverty line

I don't know which is more shocking. The fact that this guy got a $1.2 MILLION grant from the government to come up with the obvious result, or the fact that he says it cost $36 per DAY to eat a healthy diet (amounting to $1000+ per person per month). Holy crap. I need to petition the governent for a grant to determine whether skinny people exercise more than fat people. I think that's worth a cool 1.2 mill don't you?

Hey Goat...have you been reading the papers lately? There has been (and will be, I would guess) a strong shift (by the government) to making the schools much more responsible in the food they offer, also much discussion about eating more sensibly. Yeah, it means it may take longer than heating up some prepared food (for the schools or the parents), but some of these changes are the only way we're going to lessen the obesity factor in this country. Maybe a little less sitting on one's duff and playing games or whatever would help as well.

Goat

i would have to disagree i think cost has a lot to do with it. My family and I try to eat organic and fresh foods for all our meals and at the end of the month we are stretching it in terms of money. Shopping at the local farmers market has helped. We also started a huge garden for our selves this year. which has helped as well. But I can see the draw to buying cheap foods. But for US i rather be broke every month and eat healthy then have some extra money and be eating unhealthy. But to each his own.

I will say this though if people replaced there meats with things like organic tofu witch costs pennies compared to meet might make being healthy a little cheaper. I eat lots of tofu but i think most people prefer not go that route.

Groundwork-1487452

I hope they make a dramatic change because my oldest will start school soon and there is no way i will let her eat that crap. Not to mention my youngest is a celiac (allergic to Gluten).

We have been vegetarians for about 20 years now and hardly ever eat out, especially at fast food restaurants. We buy all our groceries at run-of-the mill grocery stores and farmer's markets. Until recently, we did not have an "upscale" market in the area such as a Whole Food, etc.

We mostly eat what's in season, eat a wide variety of legumes, beans and leafy vegetables and often make meals into soup form. Rice and whole-wheat flat breads make up most of the carbohydrates. Absolutely no meat, fish or chicken or other animal flesh.

The cost is quite low and manageable and there is no weight gain or weight loss. One thing that helps keep costs in check is purchasing the rice, whole wheat flour and most of the legumes and lintels at Indian, Korean and Chinese groceries. Generally you can buy in bulk and at a lower cost than even at run-of-the mill supermarkets.

We grow a lot of our own vegetables on a 1/4 acre suburban lot. This helps to augment the fresh vegetables and keep costs more in check.

I think avoiding eating out is probably one of the biggest cost savers and eating lower on the food chain and avoiding fried foods helps a lot, as well. It works for us.

Irony, irony, irony!

I don't often go to Whole Foods, but I did a few weeks ago because my wife wanted a liquid vitamin that she couldn't get at Publix, our local grocery store. To my amazement...I even whispered to my wife...I never saw a store so full of seemingly unhealthy people. Obese, broken and maybe even genetically malformed. Have you ever heard of a skinny fat person? There were many of those there. It is mostly women that end up skinny fat people because they don't diet properly. Cut out fat and eat the wrong or not enough protein while dieting and/or exercising and you end up with a skinny fat person because there is no muscle on those bones, but plenty of jiggly fat. Just because you are thin doesn't make you healthy or not fat. So this article is somewhat of a shock to me. On top of that, I had never seen so many elderly women trying to look, I guess 40 again. Boob jobs, and expressionless faces pulled so tight, hair colored, etc., and all I could think is one more surgery and she'll look like that cat woman chic. I felt like I was in the land of the freaks!

My wife and I always shop at Publix and I must say that at least those people look like "normal" people in general. We can get most of the stuff you can get at Whole Foods for a lot less and we even go to our local fruit and vegetable markets to buy those at an even cheaper amount than Publix. Many of these products are grown right here in Florida. There are plenty of people that go to Publix that are healthy and not overweight. I truthfully see this "study" as a biased and inaccurate study. In many cases, people that are working out or on a diet will go to Whole Foods because they think that is the only way to eat healthy and that just isn't true. Additionally, just because you shop at a normal grocery store doesn't mean you are more apt to be obese. It likely means that obese people don't really care about their weight to the extent of someone who may shop at Whole Foods...although I didn't see the super healthy shopping at our Whole Foods. Of course, cost can be an issue too.

I'm in my mid 40's and never counted fat calories in my life. I am not obese and only slightly overweight, but I have always felt better being a little overweight than being totally ripped like I was 10 years ago when I worked out 5 days a week. I eat whatever I want, always have, and only buy food that has no or low sodium and no chemicals such as nitrates, MSG or phosphates. I recently had heart and cardiovascular testing along with a stress test and MRI which my doctor told me I have the heart of a mid 20's male...probably good for another 40 years.

You can eat just as healthy at your local grocery. If you are obese and don't care, you will spend 2 or 3 times the amount at Whole Foods for the same thing at your local grocery. So in this case, only an idiot would go to Whole Foods.

In closing, when I was in high school back in the 80's, I was drinking 2 liters of coke every day and eating pizzas, burgers fries, etc. and I never became obese and never had a health problem related to it. Also, I have a friend who has dieted and worked out for much of his life and is regularly in the 300lb range. Genetics plays a huge roll in the way you hold weight. I'm not saying people like this can't lose weight, but most people are not going to go on a diet and exercise regularly. So most people do not shop at Whole Foods and for good reason. It has zero to do with where they shop.

You wouldn't consider Publix an "upscale" or pricier grocery store? Maybe it has changed, I moved away from FL in 2001. Publix is very nice, but Kash & Karry and Winn Dixie always used to be cheaper.

Still - what you eat, not where you buy it seems to be more significant healthwise.

My first thought was, fat people eat more and can buy more when the prices are cheaper. Maybe it has to do more with food being the only form of entertainment if you don't have much money. You have the very poor and then you've got folks who are just living pay check to pay check - I'm in the latter category. It does require a lot of self control to move away from comfort to healthy. You've got to want to change and building a grocery store here or there won't matter. All stores have fresh produce, lean cuts of meats, nuts, grains, and beans. My food budget went down when I started buying healther but time planning and cooking went way up.

Skinny kids and big fat parents is more like it. Then when the kids start having kids in their teens they too get big and fat and you see them in FoodsCo riding around on the electric carts while shopping and the ones that can get up and walk usually have their carts blocking the isles, oblivious that people are waiting to pass.

Goat1080, I know a lot of vegans, and they tend to be very lean (tone, not just skinny). But I have yet to see one with good skin and hair. A vegan diet just doesn't preserve the subcutaneous fat stores that depict youth and health. And thin, ratty hair seems to befall vegans as well. Perhaps it's a coincidence, but it's enough to keep me on animal products. Perhaps ovolactovegans (vegetarians who consume eggs and milk) fare better, but I don't know any who are beyond their teens, so it's hard to say.

Hey JLM, you have a good point, I also have observed that "vegans" have these health issues. We are so-called "Lactovegetarians" which means we consume milk products. The milk products provide the needed vitamin B12 as well as calcium and proteins required to maintain optimal health. Of course, we don't over-consume milk and cheese and stick with skim or low-fat varieties. We do not consume eggs, either.

Hakstarr, I want to clarify that eating well and not spending a lot for food is possible, provided one is willing to shift from the "Standard American Diet" or "SAD" to lower cost "ethnic" foods. We eat almost exclusively an "Indian Vegetarian Diet" and do so on a fraction of the cost of eating "American food" from an upscale health food or "whole food" store.

Recently such a store opened in our area and we visited it once. The sky high prices sent us running for the exit, we never went back! We very rarely eat out at resturants and when we have to (generally when traveling) we avoid the fast food shacks and go where there is a better quality offering with vegetarian options (namely an Indian or Italian restuarant).

The real savings is we shop for much of our main staples such as rice and dals (lentils, legumes, beans, etc.) and whole wheat flours at Indian groceries. They offer high quality "whole foods" without the "whole foods price". We augment much of our food with our back-yard vegetable garden. The cost of seeds and a little organic fertilizer (much of this is obtained from a local horse farm at zero cost) is minimal. Yet the bounty of fresh, organic vegetables whose production WE CONTROL is worth all the modest effort in putting out the garden.

Oh yes, our son works in the garden and NEVER plays VIDEO GAMES. These are not allowed!!! TV is also restricted - just PBS and sports and limited to about 4 hours per week!!! We play sports, go for walks and hikes and work to grow our own food. No obesity here. And the cost is even LOWER than the dollar meals at junk food shacks.

It's all about how you live your life. Apartment and townhouse dwellers may not have the backyard garden option but they can still save on groceries by shopping ethnic grocery stores and doing Container Gardens or Window Gardens and in some cases participate in a local community garden - or start one!!!

The beef industry, Monsanto, ADM and other conglomerates would like to keep us all eating junk food. However, we vote with our wallets and if we don't buy the junk then we are essentially voting against it.

This article had no evidence to back anything up. It was simply an opinion piece that attempted to sound factual. You know, that's all it takes for many to run to the bank with it, so to speak.

Yeah it does seem a bit odd to me that this article makes it sound like packaged food is so much cheaper.

I haven't done any price comparing...but for breakfast I would think oatmeal is the cheapest thing you can get (not the flavored packet oatmeal).

For lunch/dinner...I know you can get 3 pounds of chicken breast from walmart for 7 bucks (at least in my area). Even if a person ate 1/2 pound of meat per meal that's $1.16 per serving of meat...add in some rice and veggies and I would be surprised if the meal cost more than $2.00. There are a ton of things you can do with pasta/rice/chicken/tomatoes that are all fairly cheap. Granted $4.20 a day (assuming $2 per meal for lunch/dinner..with oatmeal for breakfast being maybe 20 cents more) is more than the 3.52 quoted in the article for packaged foods...but I doubt it's a stretch to spend 70 cents more to get healthy and filling meals. I could get into other healthy/cheap meals, but this post is already too long.

idk...maybe i'm wrong on how much rice and some veggies cost or wrong about 70 cents more being reasonable...but I do think you can do better than packaged meals for not a lot more.

I have to agree with Julia & Cschick. It's easy to prepare healthy and inexpensive foods for the family. The operative word; prepare, not open a box.

I recently saw a show on obesity in WV. A chef showed families how to prepare healthy food from scratch. He stocked their pantries and fridges for free, then left for a few days. When he returned to check their progress, all his food was still there and they had to returned to eating fried junk, frozen pizza, " because that's what they liked". And yes, they were all obese, border line diabetics.

You can bring the obese to healthy food, but can't make them eat it.

Julia: I've never cooked a whole chicken or turkey and would love to know how you do it. I don't have a crockpot, but I do have a huge covered roasting pan. Do you literally just toss the chicken or turkey in, or do you have to remove a few things before you put it in the crockpot? In other words, I'm clueless. Can you fill me in? Can you toss in some carrots, onions and celery?

I have a friend who is in her 60's who wants me to teach her to cook. There are so many veggies and fruits she has never tried I'm constantly taken aback. It's the simple cooking that so many people don't know how to do.

Some of us were raised with kitchen knowledge and others don't have a clue.

It's time those without a clue buy a cookbook. A simple one, like McCalls. Or go on line. The information is out there.

Look at the food you eat...look at the ingredients on a can of soup, and then shop for the ingredients you can pronounce. Leave out the others, and don't salt it until you taste it.

Processed meat is bad for our health. So is processed anything. Just use your brain. Think about it. Not thinking about it is what's lazy!

"Drewnowski estimated that a calorie-dense diet cost $3.52 a day compared with $36.32 a day for a low-calorie diet."

Who the heck spends $36.32 per day on a low-calorie diet? Does that price include hiring a cook to prepare meals? For that price, one could buy more fruit and vegetables than it would be physically possible for one person to consume in one day.

Not buying it. I also keep hearing about how expensive it is to eat healthy. What I see when I go grocery shopping at Wal-mart is lazy people buying cartfuls of ready-to-eat processed foods for their families. So it's probably safe to say they're too lazy to exercise as well. I usually buy things that I can make at home from scratch and most of my meals can feed 4 people for $5 or less. Whenever I do go to the pricier places it's only to get a handful of things (and so do most people there- I rarely see a full cart). So if there is any link with being thin and the pricey grocery stores, it's common sense. People need to eat well, exercise, and if you don't want to wait in line for 15 minutes it's okay to pay $.75 more for a gallon of milk every once in a while.

Lee - you have to have a big enough crock pop lol. A crockpot is a wonderful tool for those who don't love to cook/work etc... It is also healthy - no sautee, fry or oil etc.... It also makes cheap cuts of meat (roast beefs) taste better due to the slow cooking nature. It also costs pennies to run it compared to turning on your oven. I have done a whole turkey breast in the crock and yes, a whole chicken. I usually coat it w/ a little lite olive oil, salt and pepper it. Add a 1/2 can of chicken broth. Chop in whatever veggies, even some potatoes and viola! After that, you have tons of leftovers.

If you read the article, he cited cost and prepare time. Packaged food isn't always cheaper, but it's a lot easier to prepare. And healthier packaged food does tend to cost more. Anyway, whether or not you agree about the cost, it is definitely true that poorer people have a higher rate of obesity.

I agree there is some correlation but we are letting people off the hook far too easily. Whole Foods could be dirt cheap and they still would not eat it. Whole Foods is a status thing in large part anyway. Is it really too much to ask some one to spend 12 minutes to prepare a simple crock pot dish? Really?

It's too much to ask someone to buy a tub of lowfat cottage cheese or yogurt or packages of frozen fruit (cheaper than fresh) instead of potato chips? If so, these people are beyond help. If you set expectations, instead of coddling, most of the time people will amaze you.

Thanks, Julia! I never thought I'd want a crock pot, but I going to buy a large one today! I'm sure I'll get the gist after I've done a couple of chickens. This just sounds too easy to be true.

Julia,

I would have to agree with you. A person must cook to feed themselves inexpensively and healthy. When I was young and poor (I did not get food stamps or any type of gov't assistance), I was very thin (5'5" and 102 lbs). I used to make stews, rice, soups, oatmeal. I got most of my vegetable nutrition from adding them to soup or stews. Everything I ate was home cooked. I would eat the same left overs for a week. I could not afford to go out and eat. Boxed food was more expensive than home cooked. Bananas and apples were cheaper than candy bars. Now I am middle class and have gained 20 lbs! I don't believe the poor obesity myth. I have been both poor and middle class. I was very thin when I was poor because less money meant less food. Eating junk food is a choice.

Theres a big difference in the caloric levels of a chicken you buy yourself and one that is pre-prepared. I try to eat only unprocessed foods. You can eat alot if you want and its not nearly as calorically dense, plus without all the preservatives and additives its way better for you. But it all boils down to people being lazy. If you are too lazy to exercise at all, then you are probably too lazy to actually cook something thats unprocessed and requires some effort to make. Instead, you will just throw something in the microwave and eat that instead. Idk where they got 30$+ a day to eat healthy, thats BS. My gf and I eat real food and cook everyday, and our weekly grocery bill is like 70-80$ for the 2 of us.

Assumes you have real access to a real, functional kitchen, a refrigerator that works and is not shared with so many others that you have no place to store anything, time to cook and clean, and the presence of mind to do it. For most poor people, these things are lacking. They either work long hours, or spend long hours looking for work, or spend long hours on long commutes, often using snail-slow public transportation. They share dwellings with 3 times as many people as the dwelling was designed to accomodate, or they are homeless.

The poor are often victims of crime, often wrongfully accused (and poorly represented in court), and are more often trapped or tricked into doing things that bring criminal charges against them. Some actually are driven insane by all of this and actually commit heinous crimes. For these reasons, poor people frequently have to deal with the criminal courts and the police, or spend time in jail. All of this erodes the presence of mind needed to select and prepare healthy and economical meals.

If we want to do something about obesity and poor food choices, let's do something about poverty. Let's remove the Obamas, investigate, prosecute and punish the banksters, restore Glass-Steagall, take back the bailouts, and launch a FDR New Deal type of public works program, or what Abraham Lincoln called "internal improvements".

You're absolutely right. In some areas, convenience stores are the only food option within walking distance. Also, those neighborhoods where there are grocery stores, the produce section is pretty awful. And yes, I've personally been to several of these in my area, just to satisfy my own curiosity - overpriced and sub-par selection, not to mention some brands of canned/frozen foods I've never heard of and would be leery of buying. I wondered where some of the stuff came from since it only listed a distributor, not a manufacturer.

Yes! This is exactly what I was thinking...the more money you have, the greater the impetus to "look the part" and be thin, thin, thin. I live in an affluent area - very, very few women are overweight. Also, if you have money you can afford: personal trainer/home gym, housekeeper, fresh/best food, special diets, therapy, sport-exerice-spa vacaions, etc.

AND the more likely you've had surgery and can eat much anyway

Oh come on guys, I know many trim women. They have not had plastic surgery, personal trainers or housekeepers. They do limit carb snacks, sugary drinks, walk a lot, maybe work out at a gym and avoid eating out too many times a week. It really is not rocket science. My grandma could have told you that one long before gastric bypass etc... was around.

And if you live in a neighborhood where it's unsafe to walk, due to crime or lack of sidewalks?

Relocate.

Jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches... and there are few places where you can get a bag of Cheetos that don't also offer an apple or a granola bar. Poor food choices and sedentary lifestyles make people obese. And so do government subsidies for crops that make up cheap processed food. Can't afford a bag of pears? Put back the 2-liter bottles of soda and 5 bags of Doritos. Presto, healthy food isn't out of your price range.

Goat,

The more I read of your posts the more I think you not of the real world; relocate! God your funny

Bronte, you hit the nail on the head! Couldn't have said it better.

When I'm shopping usually the obese ppl are the ones with soda, chips, cookies in their carts, no fruits or veggies, all while sipping a 700 cal iced latte.

Oh Goat, you're priceless! I'm all for personal responsibility, but people already struggling to put food on the table are not going to have the thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars required to relocate, especially to a safer (and, hence, much more expensive) neighborhood. Three months' rent plus a security deposit is thousands alone. Moving furniture and possessions is costly. Sure, you could sell everything, but you'd just have to buy more once you got to your destination. It's also been my experience that safer neighborhoods rarely have access to public transportation, so they would be required to purchase a car, which is a huge expense for anyone on a limited income.

Even so, these safe neighborhoods may be no more walkable than the cities. Or even less so. I live in about the safest area there is, but none of the roads have shoulders, and sidewalks are unheard of. I've been told by the cops (like I need to be told, given the dozens of accidents that happen in my front yard) not to walk on my road because it would be a death sentence.

Moving isn't as easy as typing the word on your computer, nor will it be the answer to all your problems.

In many cases, moving may be a more viable option than trying to change the built environment.

Cattle too! Nothing like a steroid and antibiotic injected mid-rare ribeye!

You mean like we already do? Individuals choose the lifestyle that suits them for many reasons. Who is supposed to be responsible for and make different choices for those who are lazy, eat junk and feed their children junk? The government? Maybe selling junk food should become a crime? You know, so those who are too damn lazy or stupid to eat better, don't ever have to try anything different or change a thing.

Just wondering, do you work outside the home as well?

I don't now, but I used to. I cooked almost everynight for my family then as well. I was a one person show then, as I am now. My husband usually wasn't home to help to cook, clean, etc.

I also used to make my own baby food. And yes, I did work outside the home then. It wasn't difficult, it just took some thought and planning. And it was a lot less expensive than baby food from a jar at the grocery store.

Even though I stay at home with my child, I could still take the easy way out and buy a bunch of more expense, less nutritous processed foods. I choose not to. That is my point. Many people would be healthier if they just made better choices.

I know working outside the home makes doing everyday things more difficult, but my parents took care of us (cooked meals, attended school events, etc) even though they worked. I just don't think that working outside the home should be an automatic excuse for not doing what is best for your family.

I work outside the home. I own my own business and work about 50+ hours a week and can manage to cook from scratch every night. Its called PRE PLANNING!

The problem is that some don't even use a cart. Ever see who's driving those motorized carts around Wal-Mart?

Exactly! I work as a part-time cashier and what I see are the people on government assitance making poor choices, but do not have to. Example: $126.00 worth of cookies, cakes and drinks. They will have $400.00 worth of grocery and another $600.00 left on their card. They are the ones that can afford to eat healthy. I work two jobs and cannot buy $400.00 in grocery. If the government wants to help obesity, the should cut the amount of money they provide on their ebt cards or limit what they can buy with their cards and they will survive, working people do.

One of the reasons I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, even though it provides the exact same stuff as the more upscale stores for less money, is because I have to constantly dodge the roller pigs scooting down the ice cream aisle. Also, huge lines and illegal immigrants leering and hooting at my wife because she is half Spanish is just not worth putting up with. Wal-Mart attracts the worst kind of people.

Also, I'm completely shocked at this "eating healthy is expensive" crap. A box of Cheez-It's costs about 4 bucks. I can buy a whole chicken for that!. Add in a 2lb bag of brown rice for $1.50 and two bags of frozen veggies for $2 and I've got dinner for a week for less than ten bucks! People are just lazy and stupid.