Mother Jailed For Obese Son

[Silcc69]

http://news.aol.com/article/mother-of-555-pound-boy-speaks/544624?icid=main|aimzones|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fn ews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fmother-of-555-pound-boy-speaks%2F544624

Ok clearly they needed help but this stuck out the most: Asked how his weight gain got so out of control, Gray said, "Well, a lot of times it had to do with lifestyle. A lot of times I had to work fulltime second shift or fulltime, third shift. And I wasn't home a lot."

It looks like she was trying to provide for her so w/o being on foodstamps. And if this is the case why not arrest these mothers that are on Maury with 150 lbs 4 year olds? Stupid government.

[BLKGSXR]

dude she works her ass off. and this is how shes treated...we never said the system is fair psh...the kid should have looked at himself thinking what can I do to lose weight or eat healthy, If not making your kids healthy food becomes a crime they will have to arrest the majority of the worlds parents....this is just being seen by the media because the boy is around 350 lbs overweight.

[Nowhere]

About TIME. I consider people who overfeed their children as committing child abuse, since they PUNISH their child by doing that with a lifetime of medical issues, social stigma and ridicule.

[2009AD]

I feel bad for the mom and son, but what mother lets her 14 year old child hit 300 pounds much less 500+ pounds? I can understand why the government got involved and why the child was removed from her home. They (mother and son) need help, she should not be prosecuted.

(CBS) A mother is being charged with neglecting her obese teenage son, raising issues about whether the government has the right to intervene in one's family life.

Born and raised in South Carolina, Alexander Draper grew up to reach a dangerous 555 pounds by the age of 14. That's when law enforcement stepped in.

"The first and foremost concern is Alexander's health," Lt. Shea Smith told CBS News.

Alexander's mother, Jerri Gray, was charged with unlawful neglect of a child for allowing him to become obese.

"There have been opportunities to get Alexander some treatment over the course of the last several months and unfortunately some of those things have not been taken advantage of," Smith said.

But Gray, released from jail Monday on $50,000 bond, says she does not have enough money to get her son the treatment he needs.

Alexander is in the custody of the Department of Social Services, who in a statement to CBS News said they only intervene when "health care professionals believe a child is at risk of harm."

"Obviously her son is certainly in need of some medical attention," Lt. Smith said.

Jerri Gray and her defense attorney, Kim and Grant Varner, appeared on The Early Show Thursday to discuss the situation.

Asked how his weight gain got so out of control, Gray said, "Well, a lot of times it had to do with lifestyle. A lot of times I had to work fulltime second shift or fulltime, third shift. And I wasn't home a lot."

Gray told guest host and "Britain's Got Talent" judge Amanda Holden she had been monitoring her son's diet, but that there were times she had to purchase fast food, when she'd have to sleep between shifts.

Asked if there are steps she could've taken earlier to have helped him not reach that level of weight, Gray said, "When I had a second shift hob, I would've rather been home, so that I could've spent more time focusing on preparing more low-fat type-meals."

While Alex is under state care right now, Gray believes her son needs to be with her. "Mentally he needs to be with me. We both need to be included together in whatever program that they have to offer so that we both can benefit from it. So as our lives go on together, then we will have learned how to control it and keep it under control."

[Nicole Dupre]

dude she works her ass off. and this is how shes treated...we never said the system is fair psh...the kid should have looked at himself thinking what can I do to lose weight or eat healthy, If not making your kids healthy food becomes a crime they will have to arrest the majority of the worlds parents....this is just being seen by the media because the boy is around 350 lbs overweight.

The world doesn't need anymore overflowing mindless human garbage pails, slowly shuffling around and taking up precious space and oxygen. Spend tax dollars on sewing the fat little bastard's mouth closed, and on sterilizing "miss workaholic" enabler. I don't want to worry about that little tub of goo's life being in danger, simply because fate put him in the hands of a loser. :roll:

People have plenty of years to be fat morons as adults. So even though the little whale won't stop chowing, parents aren't supposed to let their kids endanger their own lives by handing them pork rinds and Fluff. Perhaps not arrest them, but we should publicly condemn them harshly. They're like crack-heads and crack-babies.

[BLKGSXR]

dude she works her ass off. and this is how shes treated...we never said the system is fair psh...the kid should have looked at himself thinking what can I do to lose weight or eat healthy, If not making your kids healthy food becomes a crime they will have to arrest the majority of the worlds parents....this is just being seen by the media because the boy is around 350 lbs overweight.

The world doesn't need anymore overflowing mindless human garbage pails, slowly shuffling around and taking up precious space and oxygen. Spend tax dollars on sewing the fat little bastard's mouth closed, and on sterilizing "miss workaholic" enabler. I don't want to worry about that little tub of goo's life being in danger, simply because fate put him in the hands of a loser. :roll:

People have plenty of years to be fat morons as adults. So even though the little whale won't stop chowing, parents aren't supposed to let their kids endanger their own lives by handing them pork rinds and Fluff. So, perhaps not arrest them but, we should publicly condemn them harshly. They're like crack heads and crack babys. why do you belittle people so much? your statement is horribly worded-human garbage pails....etc.

[Nicole Dupre]

why do you belittle people so much? your statement is horribly worded-human garbage pails....etc.You didn't get my point, yet again.

Seriously, stick to comic books and weights, you big dummy.

[Nicole Dupre]

This just in!!! : Both Bruce banner and the Incredible Hulk are power-bottoms!

[BLKGSXR]

why do you belittle people so much? your statement is horribly worded-human garbage pails....etc.You didn't get my point, yet again.

Seriously, stick to comic books and weights, you big dummy. again belittling someone...Of all people to talk of appearances...wasnt it about a year or two ago you were looking a bit different?
I understood your point but didnt really care. Your an extremely crude person nicole. Just keep your twisted psychological opinion to yourself.

And silcc sorry about the hijacking.

[Nicole Dupre]

again belittling someone...Of all people to talk of appearances...wasnt it about a year or two ago you were looking a bit different?
I understood your point but didnt really care. Your an extremely crude person nicole. Just keep your twisted psychological opinion to yourself.

And silcc sorry about the hijacking.You're not the boss of me. It's not your goddamn thread. What's even more pathetic about you is, you were too dumb to realize that I was agreeing with you. Wtf?

Oil your robo microphones, Captain USA. And I'll remember to use comic book metaphors only in the future.

[Silcc69]

I think if she was working so much it would be hard for her to monitor his eating habits. Now if she was on welfare and not working at all then yeah throw her jail becuase she was there but this right here is to much.

[sucka4chix]

dude she works her ass off. and this is how shes treated...we never said the system is fair psh...the kid should have looked at himself thinking what can I do to lose weight or eat healthy, If not making your kids healthy food becomes a crime they will have to arrest the majority of the worlds parents....this is just being seen by the media because the boy is around 350 lbs overweight.

The world doesn't need anymore overflowing mindless human garbage pails, slowly shuffling around and taking up precious space and oxygen. Spend tax dollars on sewing the fat little bastard's mouth closed, and on sterilizing "miss workaholic" enabler. I don't want to worry about that little tub of goo's life being in danger, simply because fate put him in the hands of a loser. :roll:

People have plenty of years to be fat morons as adults. So even though the little whale won't stop chowing, parents aren't supposed to let their kids endanger their own lives by handing them pork rinds and Fluff. Perhaps not arrest them, but we should publicly condemn them harshly. They're like crack-heads and crack-babies.

Maybe wouldn't have put it that way, but I'm pretty tired of fat people, especially the poor ones. Back in the renaissance(?) being fat meant you had money because you could afford food. What does it say when you're poor and struggling, can't pay your bills, but obese? Sounds like you're literally eating yourself out of house and home.
I empathize with anyone with a medical condition, but most obese people got that way from obsessing over food and sitting on their ass. Instead of enabling these folk I think we need fat taxes and fat policies---- like weight limits at buffets.... cooks refusing to serve obese people (bartenders do it to drunks---same damn thing). I got many others, but I'm sure I pissed off enough people, so I'll stop.

[2009AD]

The world doesn't need anymore overflowing mindless human garbage pails, slowly shuffling around and taking up precious space and oxygen. Spend tax dollars on sewing the fat little bastard's mouth closed, and on sterilizing "miss workaholic" enabler. I don't want to worry about that little tub of goo's life being in danger, simply because fate put him in the hands of a loser. :roll:

People have plenty of years to be fat morons as adults. So even though the little whale won't stop chowing, parents aren't supposed to let their kids endanger their own lives by handing them pork rinds and Fluff. Perhaps not arrest them, but we should publicly condemn them harshly. They're like crack-heads and crack-babies.

Damn, you sound a lil angry. The kid has a serious health/medical issue that needs to be addressed by medical professionals. Just about every state sets aside funds to assist people with medical/health issues. The mother is 49, so it's unlikely she will have any more children. Anyways, we no longer sterilize people against their will in the U.S. They are not "human garbage pails," and hopefully, they will both get the help they need.

[bte]

About TIME. I consider people who overfeed their children as committing child abuse, since they PUNISH their child by doing that with a lifetime of medical issues, social stigma and ridicule.

+1

[Nicole Dupre]

Damn, you sound a lil angry. The kid has a serious health/medical issue that needs to be addressed by medical professionals. Just about every state sets aside funds to assist people with medical/health issues. The mother is 49, so it's unlikely she will have any more children. Anyways, we no longer sterilize people against their will in the U.S. They are not "human garbage pails," and hopefully, they will both get the help they need.

I'm not angry; public misconception #1 about me.

#2 I'm kidding about sterilizing people. But since they're getting extremely fat, they need extreme measures of intervention imho. Money and pork rinds don't grow on trees.

Think before you fuck, breeders! :D

[Nicole Dupre]

About TIME. I consider people who overfeed their children as committing child abuse, since they PUNISH their child by doing that with a lifetime of medical issues, social stigma and ridicule.

+1
Shitty diets are so embedded in our way of living, that I think the first few people to face legal consequences will be the unfortunate sacrificial lambs. But maybe people do need a wake up call to remind them apathy can be lethal. I still can't see imprisonment improving the situation for anyone involved, including the tax payers.

[rockabilly]

"Pretty tired of fat people" Well i'm big and i do not obsess over food or sit on my ass, I work over 10hrs a day 6 days a week and care for my grandmother when i come home. I eat healthy , run and lift but still am big. Maybe the fatties you know sit on the couch eating bon bons but this one is spry. :(

[Nicole Dupre]

"Pretty tired of fat people" Well i'm big and i do not obsess over food or sit on my ass, I work over 10hrs a day 6 days a week and care for my grandmother when i come home. I eat healthy , run and lift but still am big. Maybe the fatties you know sit on the couch eating bon bons but this one is spry. :(It's not being overweight that's the problem. That's just a symptom of the underlying problem. And nobody knows how to fuck kids up better than their parents. lol As the robo-wuss said, where will we draw the line in the court system? Imo over-eating and a lack of exercise should be instilled as counter-intuitive behavior. Unfortunately, parents don't always pass that survival instinct on to their kids. And since kids have wills of their own, you can't absolve them here either.

In total seriousness, fat people are fine. I just lost 40 lbs last year, so I'm not above being gluttonous or lazy. But I don't need this comic book obsessed weirdo to get hyper sensitive to my every word. Hey, Robo dork get off my dick, m'kay? You were not on my radar until you placed yourself there. Now go have Reed Richards pound your ass with his stretchable cock. Wtf? lol

[rockabilly]

You would think that w/ everything happening in the world a fat boy and his mom wouldn't be d big story. I've seen bigger kids on Maury and on Discovery Channel.
"There are 2 kinds of fat people in this world , those who were always fat and those who were skinny and became fat ."

[Jericho]

But Gray, released from jail Monday on $50,000 bond, says she does not have enough money to get her son the treatment he needs.



:?
How much does it cost to stop feeding him?
No wonder she needs three jobs!

[sucka4chix]

I think if she was working so much it would be hard for her to monitor his eating habits. Now if she was on welfare and not working at all then yeah throw her jail becuase she was there but this right here is to much.
In most cases obesity is a simple math equation---calories in minus calories out. Why is she working so much? So she can buy a bunch of food? If the childs body is storing the calories he gets as fat, that means he's being fed too many calories. Children are like dogs in the sense that they don't have jobs and they depend on "parents' for food. If dogs had their way, they'd all be big as a house, because they'd eat all the time. The adult controls the situation. She doesn't have to be at home to monitor stuff---- stop buying so much damn food!
HOW CAN ANYBODY FEEL SORRY ABOUT THIS? There is no excusing a 555lb
14 year old. To get to 555 you have to pass 200...300...400...500, and you did nothing!!!!! Hell yeah throw her ass in jail!!!

[Suckalot1]

but they didn't arrest the son?? WOW

[sucka4chix]

but they didn't arrest the son?? WOW
wouldn't fit in the squad car

[Nashvegas]

i have no problem with this. those shows on TLC about the 1000 LB people...are you kidding? dont leave so much food in the house for the kid to just eat all day.

[arnie666]

I actually think it's rather a cop out to blame the mother completely.I would hold her in an ideal world 100 per cent responsible for the state of her son.However, political correctness and liberalism we have seen in recent times ,means parents feel rather hamstrung about how to discipline their children. It's not so much fear of social workers getting involved if they quite rightly bray their children now and then but this culture where a damn good thrashing is somehow harmful or wrong.That telling a child 'no' is somehow like a swear word.

When I was growing up my Dad would bray me if I stepped out of line. Sweets crisps etc were counted as treats not as a staple part of ones diet. The whole family ate together and you ate what you were given or you got brayed. Not only that but we played outside whenever we could , football, games etc , no kids seem to spend a,lot more time indoors. At school you played football, or rugby and if you didn't you got detention.Competitive team games were compulsory. Everyone did cross country running. And guess what out of the entire year I don't remember one fat person.

So while I feel this mum is a failure as a parent I personally wouldn't punish her, I would jail all the liberal nippy handwringers who have poisoned western societies and created the walking accident that is this boy.

[BLKGSXR]

again belittling someone...Of all people to talk of appearances...wasnt it about a year or two ago you were looking a bit different?
I understood your point but didnt really care. Your an extremely crude person nicole. Just keep your twisted psychological opinion to yourself.

And silcc sorry about the hijacking.You're not the boss of me. It's not your goddamn thread. What's even more pathetic about you is, you were too dumb to realize that I was agreeing with you. Wtf?

Oil your robo microphones, Captain USA. And I'll remember to use comic book metaphors only in the future.that has to be one of the dumbest jokes ive ever read. Bitch seems like you love to hate me...are you mad im not salivating over your nutsack.....talking shit on captain america refering the US smart douche.

[Silcc69]

Thread has now been hijacked.

[Nicole Dupre]

that has to be one of the dumbest jokes ive ever read. Bitch seems like you love to hate me...are you mad im not salivating over your nutsack.....talking shit on captain america refering the US smart douche.Please, fagot. I agreed with you and you gave me shit. So I'll make fun of your little gay leotard-squad avatars however I like. I mean, they are extremely gay. You know that, right? Gay as dick-shaped candy. Down.

Just remember, you stepped on one of my first posts when I got back. So after this latest nonsense, you can suck my dick, you comic book fag. You're a dime a dozen gym-bot. We all caught that.

Now go put on your tights and do a pirouette, bitch. :roll:

[BLKGSXR]

that has to be one of the dumbest jokes ive ever read. Bitch seems like you love to hate me...are you mad im not salivating over your nutsack.....talking shit on captain america refering the US smart douche.Please, fagot. I agreed with you and you gave me shit. So I'll make fun of your little gay leotard-squad avatars however I like. I mean, they are extremely gay. You know that, right? Gay as dick-shaped candy. Down.

Just remember, you stepped on one of my first posts when I got back. So after this latest nonsense, you can suck my dick, you comic book fag. You're a dime a dozen gym-bot. We all caught that.

Now go put on your tights and do a pirouette, bitch. :roll:

http://www.ytv.com/etc/wow_2008/images/crying_baby.jpg

someone give me the attention I crave o so much(sarcastic tone)...Nicole I seriously wouldnt be suprised if you had adhd...

Literal meaning: Faggot-Bundle of sticks...good one
You want me to suck your cock..Ill pas,psycho people arent my cup o tea'
Gymbot lmfao your jokes are repetitive just stop.

And again sillc upmost apology on thread jacking.

[Nicole Dupre]

that has to be one of the dumbest jokes ive ever read. Bitch seems like you love to hate me...are you mad im not salivating over your nutsack.....talking shit on captain america refering the US smart douche.Please, fagot. I agreed with you and you gave me shit. So I'll make fun of your little gay leotard-squad avatars however I like. I mean, they are extremely gay. You know that, right? Gay as dick-shaped candy. Down.

Just remember, you stepped on one of my first posts when I got back. So after this latest nonsense, you can suck my dick, you comic book fag. You're a dime a dozen gym-bot. We all caught that.

Now go put on your tights and do a pirouette, bitch. :roll:http://www.ytv.com/etc/wow_2008/images/crying_baby.jpg
someone give me the attention I crave o so much(sarcastic tone)...Nicole I seriously wouldnt be suprised if you had adhd...

And again sillc upmost apology on thread jacking.Please. What now, Wonder Girl? Again you wanna bug me?! Stop obsessing on me, ok? Seriously. Don't you have some action figures you need to dust or something? Wtf?

[Suckalot1]

what a fat piece of shit.

[Nicole Dupre]

I apologize as well. I actually thought I was agreeing with this neanderthal. I didn't know that a fucking Super-Secret Marvel War was gonna erupt. Looks like I'm now part of the Axis of Evil along with the Red Skull and Hydra.

Btw, dummy, Captain USA is from that stupid fucking Burt Reynolds car chase movie, you idiot. I think it was Dom DeLouise. So please don't take me Guantanamo Bay. Ok, GI Joe?

[rockabilly]

Hey a little respect for Cannonball Run 2 if you please :lol:

[Nicole Dupre]

Hey a little respect for Cannonball Run 2 if you please :lol:

LMFAO! THAT was exactly what I was talking about. Except I remembered him calling himself Captain USA.

But either way, this guy is up my ass since day one here, and I'm sick of it. He's one of these guys who works out constantly but can't think anymore. He's frazzled. He just talks aimlessly, looks at comic books, and throws his BF's under a bus or something. I dunno.

But he needs to find another girl to bug. I'm not into battling butch queers.

Do you hear me, robo fag? Leave me ALONE!!! Stop bugging a girl just to let us all know that you're gay. We already knew. Don't be shocked. Move on.

Because I say "live and let live". I love my gay brothers, as long as they are not acting like shady fagots.... LIKE YOU HAVE EVER SINCE I GOT HERE !!!!

[rockabilly]

I haven't seen that film in years ... I think he was Captain Chaos and then at the end of the film he got a new mask and Capt. USA was born. Nicole relax , breathe in positive , breathe out negative. Hows your friends recovery going?

[freak]

dude she works her ass off. and this is how shes treated...we never said the system is fair psh...the kid should have looked at himself thinking what can I do to lose weight or eat healthy, If not making your kids healthy food becomes a crime they will have to arrest the majority of the worlds parents....this is just being seen by the media because the boy is around 350 lbs overweight.

The world doesn't need anymore overflowing mindless human garbage pails, slowly shuffling around and taking up precious space and oxygen. Spend tax dollars on sewing the fat little bastard's mouth closed, and on sterilizing "miss workaholic" enabler. I don't want to worry about that little tub of goo's life being in danger, simply because fate put him in the hands of a loser. :roll:

People have plenty of years to be fat morons as adults. So even though the little whale won't stop chowing, parents aren't supposed to let their kids endanger their own lives by handing them pork rinds and Fluff. Perhaps not arrest them, but we should publicly condemn them harshly. They're like crack-heads and crack-babies.

It is clear that the kid has something not normal in his DNA, similar to a TS (like you). His brain doesn't work right and his parent doesn't know what to do and can not afford treatment (like yours must have). So you must also think your parents should have been tossed in prison, did they help you with your transition? Maybe take you to the tattoo polar to get you a manly tattoo to help you realize that it is just a faze you where going through? Did they take you to see a shrink when you where a teen? It is obvious that you have some rage and hate issues built up.

Fate has brought you here to spew your hate and ignorance, the kid has a problem just like a girl with Bulimia or Anorexia or a child with gender disorder. Eating disorders are some of the hardest addictions to help, unlike alcohol and drugs he just cannot stop taking them, he has to eat to survive and he has to have something in his brain that doesn't let him stop.

[BLKGSXR]

SMH-Skeletor is ranting like a baby....QQ less.

OnT-To be honest its not an easy thing for anyone to lose weight especially with his condition in example.
for bigger people it is although easier at times to lose weight. Mostly because it is a rapid change to the body's usual routine.Then genetics comes into effect, If its in your genes that you will be overweight then all you can do is try and eat safe, I mean I dont eat fastfood but every once in a while ill go to a nice restaurant with friends.all I can say is the boy needs a balanced diet and adequate exercise to try and help him succeed.
I feel bad for the boy in this but also for the mother. It seems like she is a single parent and its not easy for people to work 1 job at times shes working 3.
Let me make this clear, we all need some bodyfat It helps protect us from all kinds of bacteria. But excessive fat can also be a harm all in its own, I see the boy having to have heart surgery for all the grease from the food he eats.

[Nicole Dupre]

It is clear that the kid has something not normal in his DNA, similar to a TS (like you). His brain doesn't work right and his parent doesn't know what to do and can not afford treatment (like yours must have). So you must also think your parents should have been tossed in prison, did they help you with your transition? Maybe take you to the tattoo polar to get you a manly tattoo to help you realize that it is just a faze you where going through? Did they take you to see a shrink when you where a teen? It is obvious that you have some rage and hate issues built up.

Fate has brought you here to spew your hate and ignorance, the kid has a problem just like a girl with Bulimia or Anorexia or a child with gender disorder. Eating disorders are some of the hardest addictions to help, unlike alcohol and drugs he just cannot stop taking them, he has to eat to survive and he has to have something in his brain that doesn't let him stop.

I have no rage for kids, and my parents did absolutely nothing to encourage or assist me financially in reaching my goals as a TS.

Unless you can prove that a child's genetic disposition has caused their obesity, which is highly unlikely in most cases of the disease, these cases will boil down to enabling, putting children in harm's way , neglect, etc.

Your condemnation of my cruel joke is admirable, but it's a joke ffs. I mean, unless you actually are a "freak", and I have you all wrong. Because my name's "Nicole", Freak. Nice to meet you.

[Nicole Dupre]

Whos' the greatest woman in history?..Ms. Pacman for sure....for 25 cents the bitch swallows balls until she dies!!.

Wow. Nice quote. So you're misogynist, huh freak? Or did your mom help you chose that one? She must have rage issues, if so.

[Nicole Dupre]

SMH-Skeletor is ranting like a baby....QQ less.

Gotta have that last word, huh? :roll:

Your mama's skeletor, bitch. Now go give her a hug in your weight lifter tights. That's my response. Your turn. :roll:

[SarahG]

I think to a point the parent is in a tough position. With the way the government acts, she was kinda damned if she does, damned if she doesn't.

She's obviously damned if she lets her 14 yr old son reach 555 pounds for allowing him to get that fat.

But if she had simply "stopped buying food," then the state would have intervened and took her child away anyway for not having any food in the house.

Child services are run by a bunch of egocentric idiots that would be all too happy to tell her she doesn't know how to be a parent, either way. And then the kid would be thrown in foster care, which isn't exactly the model way to raise a child either.

Don't get me wrong, letting a 14 year old get to 555 lbs IS CHILD ABUSE. There is no other way to look at it. There's no way a pre-pubescent child can become more than a quarter of a ton without the parent doing something wrong, even if the child is predisposed to be fat from genetics. The government absolutely needs to step in and do something about it, at the least because the gov is going to be the ones to pay for his fat ass once he gets older and needs the tax payers to cover all his health care costs (or worse; disability).


"Pretty tired of fat people" Well i'm big and i do not obsess over food or sit on my ass, I work over 10hrs a day 6 days a week and care for my grandmother when i come home. I eat healthy , run and lift but still am big. Maybe the fatties you know sit on the couch eating bon bons but this one is spry. :(

There's a far cry difference between being somewhat overweight and being 555 lbs at 14 years old.



Maybe wouldn't have put it that way, but I'm pretty tired of fat people, especially the poor ones. Back in the renaissance(?) being fat meant you had money because you could afford food. What does it say when you're poor and struggling, can't pay your bills, but obese? Sounds like you're literally eating yourself out of house and home.
I empathize with anyone with a medical condition, but most obese people got that way from obsessing over food and sitting on their ass. Instead of enabling these folk I think we need fat taxes and fat policies---- like weight limits at buffets.... cooks refusing to serve obese people (bartenders do it to drunks---same damn thing). I got many others, but I'm sure I pissed off enough people, so I'll stop.

There is a way economics enters into the picture however. We'd be kidding ourselves if we said there was no connection between SEC & cultural diet trends.

Part of why poor people are more likely to be fat is because poor people usually have a harder time at getting and/or affording a healthy diet. Someone without transportation living in a poor neighborhood is going to be buying most of their groceries from the small neighborhood grocery store because that's the only thing that's close.

Having worked for that industry when I was in high school, I will tell you right now from first hand experience- the cost of groceries, most especially the cost of healthy food- is far greater in poorer areas then in the middle class suburbs. Everything from milk to vegetables to fruits are going to cost significantly more in a poor area's neighborhood grocery store. They don't have the volume (tiny neighborhood general stores versus big retail chains in the suburbs) so they don't get the low prices, its less cost effective to have farmers make fresh produce deliveries there every morning so the produce those small urban stores have tend to not just be overpriced, but also be a lot less fresh. The overhead is greater per sq foot for the neighborhood grocery store- its more profitable for those small stores to carry more processed junk food so the meat, produce, and delhi selection is going to both stink & cost abnormally more. Ultimately its cheaper under this scenario to just live off of processed junk food, which is high in calories and low in nutritional value.

Since its low in nutritional value, people get fat on stuff that doesn't truly fill them up. They'll get hungry faster, and then if its food with hydrogenated chemicals (i.e. certain oils, greases etc.) the shape of the hydrogenated oils actually prevents the operation of enzymes in the digestive system that tell people when they are full from eating. Thus even if you are full, since you're eating crap- your body doesn't "feel full" and you keep eating. The USN started noticing the effects of this in autopsies on KIA's; they noticed that there was a generational disparagy caused by diet variation triggered by the raise of popularity of hydrogenated oils. What I mean by this is, the people who grew up before processed foods were so popular, didn't have the same obesity problems, respiratory problems, endocrine problems, or circulatory problems exhibited in people that grew up on foods heavy in this stuff. The younger KIA's showed a less-healthy, excessively aged internals because of the crap they were eating... and that crap is what makes up a bulk of low SEC diet (this is why most food banks look down at handing out unhealthy food, the temple I used to volunteer at would try NOT to give poor people shit like potato chips when better options existed). Even processed meats are different from non processed meats; chicken is an extremely cheap meat and one common in poor Americans' diets but processed chicken (factory raised) actually contains more fat then protein.

Then there are the families that eat a lot of fast food because that's whats quick, easy, and cheap. The stuff on the dollar menu is usually not the best any fast food place has in terms of diet. If a poor family is having mcdonalds once a day, you can rest assured they're probably going to be ordering fries & burgers; not the salads. Its cheaper and dollar for dollar, they'll get more volume of food- but its not going to help any obesity problems they have.

Take this thought to ponder for a bit: the low SEC life style tends to burn more calories then a high SEC life style. Typically, blue collar workers are laborers- they physically burn more calories while employed, they work more hours, and they generally walk far more in a normal day then a white collar suburbanite. They're not getting fat because they're sitting around all day watching tv (not to say that doesn't happen, of course there are people on welfare or ssi that really do just sit around and watch tv all day). You would think that higher SEC, white collar workers would be more likely to be fat like in the dark ages when fat meant being wealthy. After all, you sitting around in an air conditioned office, you drive everywhere, you pay someone to do anything labor intensive that needs being done (yard work, moving, fixing your car when it breaks, cleaning....). Active lifestyle isn't a magical characteristic for determining whether or not someone is fat.

..that's also why JFK's "Presidential Fitness" experiment was an epic disaster. You can't cure the country from youth obesity by requiring they take gym class every other day.