Possible reason for growing weight concerns?

[Zantos]

Well, recently I was looking at a website I frequent for my daily dose of funny pictures. I saw one on there that made me think. It had three beverages lined up. To the far left, a liter of soda. In the middle 16ounce soda. On the Far right, a 16ounce of water. The price of the liter of soda was cheaper then that of water. I have also noticed this in the store. I am trying to lose some weight and everything says to eat healthy. Only problem is, eating healthy is expensive. Often times our food budget would be ruined if we were to eat health. For example you can buy a big pack of oreos at my walmart for about 3bucks. There is several fruit that is more expensive, and you get only maybe 3-4pieces.

I think the problem is that it just plain old costs way to much for the average American family to realistically eat healthy. By eat healthy I mean more greens, more fruits, less junk food, and better meals. So I just think that the possible problem lies not fully in the people, but in the food providers who choose the cost as well. If they made junk food the more costly items and made eating healthy less expensive, we may possibly see a drop in weight concerns.

Just my possible thoughts. What are others thoughts?

[drwelfare]

Spending money on food really comes down to planning. As far as drinks I can fill up my 100oz cup for $1.07 with soda, gatorade, etc, or for $1.50 I can get a bag of ice and fill up my 5gallon cooler and keep cold water for 2 days.

Food is the same way, today I spent $32 on 24 pounds of beef, which I can use to make all kinds of meals, today I had tacos while not the healthiest it isnt snack food either, total cost under $3.

[Kendrel]

Well, recently I was looking at a website I frequent for my daily dose of funny pictures. I saw one on there that made me think. It had three beverages lined up. To the far left, a liter of soda. In the middle 16ounce soda. On the Far right, a 16ounce of water. The price of the liter of soda was cheaper then that of water. I have also noticed this in the store. I am trying to lose some weight and everything says to eat healthy. Only problem is, eating healthy is expensive. Often times our food budget would be ruined if we were to eat health. For example you can buy a big pack of oreos at my walmart for about 3bucks. There is several fruit that is more expensive, and you get only maybe 3-4pieces.

I think the problem is that it just plain old costs way to much for the average American family to realistically eat healthy. By eat healthy I mean more greens, more fruits, less junk food, and better meals. So I just think that the possible problem lies not fully in the people, but in the food providers who choose the cost as well. If they made junk food the more costly items and made eating healthy less expensive, we may possibly see a drop in weight concerns.

Just my possible thoughts. What are others thoughts?

Does it help? No, not in the least. But weight gain in the USA (and many Western Countries) is a cultural thing and not simply a result of cheap junk food in supermarkets. Portion sizes I personally believe are the biggest problems. On a trip to the states recently I asked for various meals and each and every one of them was more than I could possibly have eaten. When going out to restaurants etc. people will also often not choose the healthy option. The same is also true for the UK, though to a lesser extent (though increasing).

Reducing the cost of healthy foods might help (though it won't happen in a world currently having a food shortage due to poor harvests), but until people have a radical shift in their perspectives concerning what is safe and healthy to eat repeatedly, it's going to continue being an issue.

[the game]

You really don't have to buy anything from the store if you don't want to. Start hunting and you have all the meat you could want. Start growing a garden and you get all the vegetables and/or fruits you could want. It would all be free mins the cost of ammo/seed/weapons.

[Deleted]

some of my friends were to USA and all said that healthy food is expensive and fast food is cheep... dont know why are prices set like this in your country...
in my country healthy food costs same, sometimes it is cheaper than mcdonalds etc...

also you have water at home for free, and it has better quality than bottled water from shop.. there are more strict rules for taped water then for bottled, so you can save some money on it

[Shennanigans]

Dont buy water. If your water is not drinkable due to quality get a filtration system attached to your sink, it saves tons on buying bottled water. Prepared healthy foods are more expensive but healthy foods you have to prepare are reasonable.

[Deleted]

To a certain extent, yes it would be more expensive. But a bag of crisps for 4 $ doesn't last as long as a 5 $, 10 pound bag of carrots or potatoes. Think it is a smaller problem than people make it, yes 3-4 pieces of fruit isn't much but most likely will fill you longer and better then a big pack of oreos. Keyword for eating healthy even if it is junk food: portions. No need to eat a entire 1/2 pound of crisps in one go, split it up.

[Zantos]

You really don't have to buy anything from the store if you don't want to. Start hunting and you have all the meat you could want. Start growing a garden and you get all the vegetables and/or fruits you could want. It would all be free mins the cost of ammo/seed/weapons.

ammunition costs, tags costs, gardens cost and may require permits. cant just hunt.

[the game]

ammunition costs, tags costs, gardens cost and may require permits. cant just hunt.

Still can be way cheaper to hunt and fish than it is to goto the store every other week.

[Zantos]

Dont buy water. If your water is not drinkable due to quality get a filtration system attached to your sink, it saves tons on buying bottled water. Prepared healthy foods are more expensive but healthy foods you have to prepare are reasonable.

On the go is the only time I would buy water. Like long road trips. That is were prices can really hit hard.

[Deleted]

You really don't have to buy anything from the store if you don't want to. Start hunting and you have all the meat you could want. Start growing a garden and you get all the vegetables and/or fruits you could want. It would all be free mins the cost of ammo/seed/weapons.

And quit his job to do all these things, and pay rent in grain and carrots. Great idea

[the game]

And quit his job to do all these things, and pay rent in grain and carrots. Great idea

Who says he has to quit his job to hunt and fish. Most people who hunt have jobs, most people who fish have jobs. Hunting, fishing and gardening is a very legit option for someone claiming that overweight problems are due to healthy foods being expensive.

[Deleted]

Who says he has to quit his job to hunt and fish. Most people who hunt have jobs, most people who fish have jobs. Hunting, fishing and gardening is a very legit option for someone claiming that overweight problems are due to healthy foods being expensive.

To support every single meal, all 365 days a year, that requires quite a lot of work

[Pyro1990]

I just drink tap water most of the time (tho the quality of it kinda depends on where you live) fill up a glass and toss it in the freezer. 10 ish minutes later have a awesome drink that has just started to freeze

[Garnier Fructis]

Spending money on food really comes down to planning. As far as drinks I can fill up my 100oz cup for $1.07 with soda, gatorade, etc, or for $1.50 I can get a bag of ice and fill up my 5gallon cooler and keep cold water for 2 days.

Food is the same way, today I spent $32 on 24 pounds of beef, which I can use to make all kinds of meals, today I had tacos while not the healthiest it isnt snack food either, total cost under $3.

This is pretty much how I go about it. Budget eating ftw.

[Xenofreak]

Spending money on food really comes down to planning. As far as drinks I can fill up my 100oz cup for $1.07 with soda, gatorade, etc, or for $1.50 I can get a bag of ice and fill up my 5gallon cooler and keep cold water for 2 days.

Food is the same way, today I spent $32 on 24 pounds of beef, which I can use to make all kinds of meals, today I had tacos while not the healthiest it isnt snack food either, total cost under $3.

It very much comes down to things like this. I can get a head of iceberg that's good usually good for 2-3 salads depending on the size of the salads and density of the lettuce for less than $1. You have to actually, really, cook healthy food for it to be cheap, and that's where the big problem comes in. Not necessarily the price, but the convenience. Especially for those who don't yet know how to cook, and those who just don't always have the time to dedicate a couple hours a day to cooking and cleaning it up.

Also, the cost of food isn't really arbitrarily picked by the producers. It's largely a function of the cost of producing said food, and the fact that mass producing a bunch of sugar filled junk food item x is cheaper than growing actual fruit or raising livestock. Especially when sugar and its ilk tends to be so heavily subsidized.

[Vuljatar]

You're close. The problem isn't that eating healthy is significantly more expensive, it's that it is perceived as more expensive.

Water is not more expensive than soda. A small cold bottle of either will go for about the same price ($1.25 to $2) at the gas station but you are paying for the convenience, not the product. IF you absolutely insist on having bottled water for some reason, a 24 pack of 17 oz bottles at your local grocery store will set you back $2.50, that's barely over $.10 per bottle (Soda will be about 4 times that price on a good day).

$3 for a pack of Oreos? $3 for 6.5 pounds of Bananas. Or 3 pounds of grapes. Or 2 pineapples. Or 8 small apples. Or 2 heads of lettuce. Or 3 bunches of celery. Or 4 pounds of tomatoes. Or a bunch of asparagus. Or 3 pounds of broccoli crowns. I could go on and on...

No, the problem lies entirely in the people, the people who think "eating healthy" means buying $8.99/lb organic free range chicken breast, $15.99 all-natural gluten-free fair-trade-certified pizza crust, and $6.99 loaves of bread with more healthy-sounding-but-really-meaningless buzzwords than I care to remember.

People who "can't afford to eat healthy" either straight-up can't afford to eat, or they don't have any idea what they're doing.

---------- Post added 2013-06-06 at 12:53 AM ----------

some of my friends were to USA and all said that healthy food is expensive and fast food is cheep... dont know why are prices set like this in your country...
in my country healthy food costs same, sometimes it is cheaper than mcdonalds etc...

It's because people don't know what "healthy food" is. Eating at McDonalds is never cheaper than grocery shopping and preparing a moderately healthy meal for yourself unless you are a complete ignoramus--which a great many people are.

[Deleted]

Well, recently I was looking at a website I frequent for my daily dose of funny pictures. I saw one on there that made me think. It had three beverages lined up. To the far left, a liter of soda. In the middle 16ounce soda. On the Far right, a 16ounce of water. The price of the liter of soda was cheaper then that of water. I have also noticed this in the store. I am trying to lose some weight and everything says to eat healthy. Only problem is, eating healthy is expensive. Often times our food budget would be ruined if we were to eat health. For example you can buy a big pack of oreos at my walmart for about 3bucks. There is several fruit that is more expensive, and you get only maybe 3-4pieces.

I think the problem is that it just plain old costs way to much for the average American family to realistically eat healthy. By eat healthy I mean more greens, more fruits, less junk food, and better meals. So I just think that the possible problem lies not fully in the people, but in the food providers who choose the cost as well. If they made junk food the more costly items and made eating healthy less expensive, we may possibly see a drop in weight concerns.

Just my possible thoughts. What are others thoughts?

Water is free, plan ahead.

[starlord]

I think the problem is that it just plain old costs way to much for the average American family to realistically eat healthy. By eat healthy I mean more greens, more fruits, less junk food, and better meals. So I just think that the possible problem lies not fully in the people, but in the food providers who choose the cost as well. If they made junk food the more costly items and made eating healthy less expensive, we may possibly see a drop in weight concerns.

Just my possible thoughts. What are others thoughts?

it just depends really. as others have said, to eat healthily for cheap you must know how to cook, as well as what ingredients are healthy.
so, with a little research you can stretch the dollar quite a bit. tilapia for example is quite cheap, as well as the leaner cuts of meat. many vegetables & fruit are pretty cheap as well, <$1 each, like tomatoes for example.

this is far too much time and effort for many people though (not necessarily because of laziness).
if you need pre prepared healthy food, it will definitely cost more.

as for water, the pricing is that way because its a ludicrous business, but if you get a thermos and a water filter you can work around that.

[obdigore]

Portion Size and Price are two of the main reasons for us in the US being fatties (generally).

Portion Size in restaurants has gone up, and most people view the fatty, frozen, preservative packed food as cheaper (and easier to make!) than food that is good for you. I mean, it really isn't, but that would require knowledge and trying new things, which we as society really doesn't want to do.

As Oogzy said, get a big bag of chicken breasts (or fish (I prefer salmon) filets) and for like $20 it is 6+ meals. Add in fresh vegetables or fruit, and you have meals. Remember that a 'serving' of meat is only as big as your fist, not the size of your head.

I put chicken breasts in the oven, I put a little Olive Oil on them, then some of this mustard and herb seasoning I got from Target, and wrap it in tinfoil, cook at about 300 for half an hour. During that half hour I do about 15 minutes cleaning or doing cardio or talking to people online, then I prepare the rest of my meal (be it a salad or vegetables or fruit or w/e) and then I eat.

Also, eggs and fresh tomato and spinach makes a good scramble in the mornings.

One last thing, you really don't need to eat meat for every meal. At all.