Mississippi leads the nation in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease

[vegan1969]

Quick someone get this guy a veggie starter kit!
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JACKSON, Miss. - After growing up in the Deep South, Gov. Haley Barbour is no stranger to fried chicken, syrupy candied yams and crumbly buttermilk cornbread.
But Barbour, who often takes good-natured ribbing about his ample frame, is concerned about his state's growing reputation as one of the fattest, unhealthiest states in America.
On Thursday, Barbour will be host of the Healthy Mississippi Summit, where state and national experts will discuss ways to promote nutrition and an active lifestyle. The goal is a statewide approach similar to programs already operating in Arkansas, Michigan and elsewhere.
And taking a cue from Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — who lost 110 pounds to improve his health, after starting at 290 — Barbour says he'll lead by example.
"A lot of people will probably judge the seriousness of the program by how the governor acts," Barbour told The Associated Press, without specifically saying he was going on a diet and without giving his weight.
Mississippi leads the nation in obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease — ailments that normally can be avoided through diet and exercise.
Barbour says that what is at stake goes beyond an individual's quality of life.
"The chronic disease burden in our state dramatically increases the cost of Medicaid and Medicare. Businesses lose money because employees miss work," Barbour said. "We know that we have tens of thousands of people who are in bad health because of their behavior."
This fiscal year, it cost $3.8 billion to operate Mississippi Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the needy, aged, blind and disabled. It covers about 748,000 people, or about one in every four Mississippians.
Nationwide, chronic diseases cause 700,000 deaths a year, costing the economy $117 billion a year.
Yale obesity expert Dr. David Katz, one of the speakers for the summit, said obesity is prevalent in Mississippi because it has more poverty to contend with than other states. Nearly 20 percent of the state's residents are below the poverty level.
"Combine educational and economic hardships with the obesigenic factors that abound and you have a perfect storm of irresistible, adverse influences," Katz wrote in an e-mail to the AP.
Minorities appear to be more susceptible. Katz said one of the most startling trends he's seen is that about half of African-Americans born in the United States in 2000 or after are projected to develop diabetes.
Shawn Newsome, a 33-year-old black man struggling to lose weight to control his diabetes, is aware of the risks. The Jackson resident once weighed 300 pounds but has lost 30 pounds over the past year.
"You think about what's going to happen to your body. Are you going to lose your eyesight or your kidneys or a limb?" said Newsome.
He believes publicizing the health effects of excess weight is the best way to get people's attention. "Then people have to make a choice themselves to get in shape and watch what they're eating. They can die just from their diet," Newsome said.
Barbour plans a statewide program aimed at school children, state employees, church members and other groups. He said 25 churches have been recruited for a pilot program to help their members learn more about diet and exercise.

He said the programs will be of little cost to the state and would actually save taxpayer dollars by helping to reduce the need for hospitalization and medications.
Katz said it's too early to gauge the effectiveness of other states' government-sponsored health initiatives.
Caryl Sumrall, director of a diabetes clinic at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, said the governor's summit is a good idea. "Whether we're a taxpayer or a health care provider, it affects all of us," said Sumrall. "If we become complacent then the problem can actually get worse than it already is."

[Sheila]

Yale obesity expert Dr. David Katz, one of the speakers for the summit, said obesity is prevalent in Mississippi because it has more poverty to contend with than other states. Nearly 20 percent of the state's residents are below the poverty level.
"Combine educational and economic hardships with the obesigenic factors that abound and you have a perfect storm of irresistible, adverse influences," Katz wrote in an e-mail to the AP.


Maybe I am ignorant about this but what does poverty have to do with obestity? Does anyone know?

Sheila

[tilly]

Maybe I am ignorant about this but what does poverty have to do with obestity? Does anyone know?

I think it's to do with them not being able to afford good food, so having to live in McDonalds.
Personally I think it's naivity and greed.
That's my 2p. :)

[poppy seed]

Lower income folks tend to eat more fast food and more junk food in general. Sad.

[vegan1969]

Maybe I am ignorant about this but what does poverty have to do with obestity? Does anyone know?


The last time I bought dried beans, yesterday, they cost $1.39 for a whole bag and they were organic!
Seriously, people snack/eat the worst things. For example: they grab packs of peanuts at the convenience store that are covered in extra oils. The alternative is to buy natural nuts (no extra oils) at the market and carry them around as a healthy alternative. That's just one example. The sad theing is it's hard to run across healthy food when you are out and about which is why you have to plan ahead! You will spend a little more for the healthier nuts however the concession is that you will save money by eating a bowl of oatmeal (cost about .25) in the morning instead of pulling through Hardee's for a biscuit with sausage and egg(I don't know the price but at least a buck). People have to learn how to adjust their eating habits as to not offset their budget. It can be done. I eat quite healthy and it's all done on a tight budget!

[Sheila]

When I used to eat fast food and the SAD my grocery/food costs were so much higher then they are now. I find that my vegan food choices cost so much less.

Sheila

[Glen]

The 'Poverty Level', I would imagine, includes a number of factors other than money? If this is the case then it probably has something to do with lack of education

[Sheila]

The last time I bought dried beans, yesterday, they cost $1.39 for a whole bag and they were organic!
Seriously, people snack/eat the worst things. For example: they grab packs of peanuts at the convenience store that are covered in extra oils. The alternative is to buy natural nuts (no extra oils) at the market and carry them around as a healthy alternative. That's just one example. The sad theing is it's hard to run across healthy food when you are out and about which is why you have to plan ahead! You will spend a little more for the healthier nuts however the concession is that you will save money by eating a bowl of oatmeal (cost about .25) in the morning instead of pulling through Hardee's for a biscuit with sausage and egg(I don't know the price but at least a buck). People have to learn how to adjust their eating habits as to not offset their budget. It can be done. I eat quite healthy and it's all done on a tight budget!

I guess your mindset is more along the line of mine. I can cook for a week on about $30 if I'm really thrifty. It's all healthy and tastes so good. A value menu meal at McD's the last time I had one cost over $4. I think it was about 2 years ago. I'm not sure what they are now but if I ate that every day for lunch that would be what it would cost me for a whole week of the good food I eat.

Sheila

[Sheila]

The 'Poverty Level', I would imagine, includes a number of factors other than money? If this is the case then it probably has something to do with lack of education

I see how lack of education would be a factor too. If you believe the crap on TV and don't have the available resources to find out about good nutrition you most likely would not make the best choices.

[vegan1969]

I guess your mindset is more along the line of mine. I can cook for a week on about $30 if I'm really thrifty. It's all healthy and tastes so good

Agreed, it's healthy and tastes much better than the sad diet (standard american diet). I cook almost everything we eat, it's healthy, cheaper than the sad diet because of the way I prepare food and the food choices I buy: (non-processed, grains, veggies are the most expensive but still cheaper than meat and soymilk in which I make my own and cost about .30 a quart), tvp "beef not" in a bag for about $6.50 and use it in place of the more expensive faux meats like 'Morningstar chicken strips', etc.
p.s. I noticed you're in Charlotte, I'm over in the blue ridge mountains not too far away! I love Cherokee but haven't been to Charlotte.

[Sheila]

Agreed, it's healthy and tastes much better than the sad diet (standard american diet). I cook almost everything we eat, it's healthy, cheaper than the sad diet because of the way I prepare food and the food choices I buy: (non-processed, grains, veggies are the most expensive but still cheaper than meat and soymilk in which I make my own and cost about .30 a quart), tvp "beef not" in a bag for about $6.50 and use it in place of the more expensive faux meats like 'Morningstar chicken strips', etc.
p.s. I noticed you're in Charlotte, I'm over in the blue ridge mountains not too far away! I love Cherokee but haven't been to Charlotte.

My MIL goes to Cherokee all of the time but I have never been there. I used to live in Vegas (5 years) I didn't gamble then and I'm not taking it up now! I love the Blue Ride Mountains. We were in Gatlinburg a couple of months ago and I think next to Mexico it's the most relaxing place on the Earth for me. If you ever come to Charlotte we have awesome health food stores and lots of vegan food at the grocery stores. Eating out is a challenge sometimes though.

Sheila

[Limey]

Yes, it has a lot to do with education and poverty levels.

Below, I posted an article from the University of Washington News webpage.
(http://www.uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=4798)
It's dated June 22, 2004, but it is easy reading and Dr. Drewnowksi is a word-renowned leader in the prevention and treatment of obesity.


USDA study to address obesity and poverty

The major trends in the American diet can be described as more calories, more refined grains, more added sugars, and more added fats. The reasons behind these trends are largely economic, says Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Nutritional Sciences Program in the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
"Energy-dense foods rich in starch, sugar, or fat are the cheapest option for the consumer. As long as the healthier lean meats, fish, and fresh produce remain more expensive, obesity will continue to be a problem for the working poor," Drewnowski says.

Fat in America is an economic issue, he says. The highest rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes are found among groups with the highest poverty rates, and the least education. "We think of obesity as being predicted by genetics; believe me, it is also predicted by incomes and zip codes," says Drewnowski. There are many reasons why low-income families have less access to affordable healthy foods. Those reasons may involve food pricing and marketing, school and work schedules, or even transportation and access to the nearest grocery store.

However, Drewnowski says, a combination of nutrition education, cooking skills, and savvy use of food assistance programs may be the way to stem the obesity tide. Through its National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service recently awarded funds to address the issue of obesity, with an emphasis on vulnerable groups, including recipients of food assistance. One such grant was awarded jointly to the University of Washington, with Drewnowski as principal investigator, and the Cooperative Extension of the University of California, Davis, with Dr. Marilyn Townsend as lead researcher. The USDA's Human Nutrition Research Center at Davis will also participate in the project.

This multi-state project will explore the relationship between dietary energy density, diet costs, and actual food expenditures in two groups of participants: 120 middle-income men and women in Seattle and 120 low-income women from four California counties. Studies to be conducted in Seattle will develop a new tool to estimate individual diet costs, using local supermarket prices, California food prices and mean national food prices for some 400 foods, as estimated by the Economic Research Service of the USDA.

Trendy weight-loss diets can really slim down the pocketbook. As estimated by USA Today, the daily cost of the Atkins diet was double what the average American spends on food. The salmon-rich South Beach Diet was not far behind.

"Whereas obesity affects minorities and the poor, most of our suggested remedies are resolutely middle-class," says Drewnowski.

All study participants will provide data on shopping patterns, away from home foods, availability and accessibility of preferred foods, participation in food assistance programs, and potential financial and psychosocial barriers to dietary change. Questions on sensory acceptability and satisfaction with the diet will be based on those developed for the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan.
The study goal is to develop ways to offer individualized dietary advice that takes food preferences, usual eating habits, and financial limitations into account, Drewnowski says. A new computer model will be used to develop better diets at an affordable cost. The model will optimize nutrient density, maximize palatability, and minimize diet costs, without departing too far from usual eating habits. Helping low-income consumers obtain high-quality diets at an affordable cost may be the key strategy for stemming the obesity epidemic among the disadvantaged groups.

"We have enough information about which foods are healthy and which foods are not. But affordability and access -- that's a different story," said Drewnowski. "The focus on the cost of healthy diets will help us design better nutrition policies and programs."

[Hemlock]

Over here you can get a McDonald's burger for 99 pence. If you are poor, uneducated or whatever that and a bag full of oven chips means a filling meal. No one thinks of getting a can of beans and a baked potato or of doing a veggie casserole.
It's how they were brought up and no one teaches them any different especially as the food in schools here is heat up fast food cr*p which is scandalous.
The worse thing is now our kids are becoming so feral schools have to tech them how to use a knife and fork as they never learned. They eat finger food in front of the t.v. Some of the kids eat like animals, mouths wide open, using hands, shovelling it in, running around between mouthfuls....horrible.
A lot more kids are coming to school not potty trained either.....at 5!!!!!
If you can't even use a knife and fork, are not potty trained and can barely speak ed about healthy food.
This country is getting more f*cked up by the day:(

[eve]

If only they knew that it is cheaper to follow a plant food diet. No need to spend up on meat, bacon, eggs, fish, margarine, and take-aways, etc. Vegetables are much cheaper than those items, so there is something left over to spend on fruit and nuts. However, people are just not educated about foods, and the meat & dairy industries spend up big in the media, so tv and mags have to run those ads and wouldn't be interested in someone telling people that eating animal sourced food is a danger to ones health.

[vegan1969]

"Mississippi — the state with the lowest per capita income — charges the highest sales tax on food in the United States at 7 percent across the board.

Connecticut — the state with the highest per capita income — exempts food from state sales taxes, but charges the 6th highest tobacco excise tax in the country at $1.51 per pack.
But then, don't the poor get food stamps? Doesn't that make taxing food at the highest rate in the country a good thing?

U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations provide that food stamps can be used to buy food and seeds and plants to grow food. Food stamps can be used at a grocery store, a supermarket, a shelter that serves meals, or at a soup kitchen.
Food stamps can't be used to buy non-food items, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, pet food, vitamins, medicines, lunch counter items, or prepared foods. Restaurants can be authorized to accept food stamps from qualified recipients (homeless, elderly or disabled) in exchange for meals.
Sales tax cannot be charged on food stamp-acquired items."
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050525/COL0412/505250312/1171
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It's insane that Mississippi has the lowest per capital income in the states yet charges the highest sales tax on food. Still, people need to learn to eat healthier, it is cheaper and healthier to eat a baked potato and beans(what Hemlock said above) compared to a McDeath hamburger or pack of hamburger at the market.

[madpogue]

It's insane that food is sales-taxed anywhere, at any rate. Michigan repealed its food sales tax when I was a kid, back in the '60s or '70s; I had no idea that any US state still had it. Astonishing.

[vegan1969]

It's insane that food is sales-taxed anywhere, at any rate. Michigan repealed its food sales tax when I was a kid, back in the '60s or '70s; I had no idea that any US state still had it. Astonishing

Here's a link to all states that tax:
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sl_sales.html

[piggy]

In my experience, when I eat a vegan diet based mostly on dried legumes of all kinds, and grains, and just a veggie or 2 for flavouring, and 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a day, I get away very cheaply.

But for some time now, I've been trying to eat lots more veggies, and at least 5-7 pieces of fruit a day. And the amount of money I spend on groceries has gone up drastically. It's ridiculous that these days fruit and veg almost cost more than many types of meat, or processed foods, although the latter take up many more resources (water, time, labour, etc..)to be produced!

My 4 flatmates, who mostly live on bread, pasta, meat, cheese and yoghurt, have a vegetable, or a piece of fruit every 2 days or so. I spend a lot more on groceries than they do.
But then, maybe that's because i eat about 3-4 times the amounts they do...:p...
And i don't even buy stuff like soy milk, tofu or the likes, which cost an arm and a leg over here.

I'm sure a vegan diet like the one is used to eat (legumes and grains) is healthier than the SAD, but I feel SOOO much better now that I've gone back to eating mainly fruit and veg, and fewer grains and legumes, that I can't help thinking this must be the healthiest diet of them all...but definitely one of the more expensive ones. When not so long ago it would have been the cheapest, as would be natural, considering that fruit and veg are direct products of the earth, and of all the foodstuffs use up least resources. But it seems our society has become so sick and twisted, that everything is turned upside down. :mad:

[vegan1969]

It's ridiculous that these days fruit and veg almost cost more than many types of meat, or processed foods

I buy a bag of organic apples for $3.99. I get 10 apples in the bag (3 lbs of food), if I were to buy 10 candy bars (less food than an apple) I would spend at least a buck each which means 10 candy bars would cost $10.

I haven't bought meat in so long that I have no idea what the prices are. However, if you compare the amounts of food you get (meat vs veg) you can get an accurate price difference. I have a feeling a pound of ground beef cost more than a pound of broccoli or a pound of bananas.

[piggy]

problem is, most people will eat a small slice of meat at a meal, and be happy with that. i eat huge amounts of veggies at each meal, so i think you have to evaluate for the same amount of calories, not by mass.

[ravenfire]

It's not just about lack of money. You also have to take education & availability into account. I grew up in southern Missouri/Arkansas in a very poor area. In the areas where most of the extremely poor live, there are very few groceries which are very poorly stocked and expensive (I had never seen a bulk bin until I was 22 and had moved out of there) but there's a fast food place on every corner. So if you're a single parent working two or more jobs and have kids to feed you've got very few options. The expensive grocery is out of the question and a half hour bus ride to wal-mart isn't appealing after working 14 or more hours, but the fast food place down the street is quick, easy and cheap.

[vegan1969]

problem is, most people will eat a small slice of meat at a meal, and be happy with that. i eat huge amounts of veggies at each meal, so i think you have to evaluate for the same amount of calories, not by mass.


Are you going to keep eating just for calories even if you are full?
I think pound for pound is the way to go.....but anyway enough about it ;)

[vegan1969]

Speaking of diabetes, check this out: http://www3.youtube.com/watch?v=ynXGA6fCEgU&search=vegan

[missredbyu]

wow what an amazing film really speaks of the truth doesn't it?

[flying plum]

i just wanted to pick up on what ravenfire said all those years ago, because i think there's some truth in that. however, i also remember (with relevance to the UK), a programme over here where a tv chef was trying to convince people to buy free range chicken. a big supermarket chain over here sell two (battery) chickens for £5 ($10). one woman was complaining that she couldn't afford to buy free range. i couldn't help thinking of how many bags of dried pulses shoudl could buy for a fiver. and how long they would last...

that said, veggies are super expensive sometimes. over here, where we have a govt' funded health service, i can't help but feel subsidies given to veggies to get people eating a bit healthier so they resist buying jumbo packs of potato waffles (i agree...was hard to resist) would save the NHS a lot of money in the long term...

amanda