I came across a documentary the other day, being played on one of our public tv stations. It was called When Ends Don't Meet, and followed several families who'd be called the working poor--except for one couple where the husband wanted to work but couldn't, or his cancer-striken wife would lose her Medicaid coverage.
One thing that struck me was how most of the adults in the families were overweight. I can think of one mother who looked in good shape, and two husbands who only had small bellies. The rest seemed to be really obese. It struck me as odd, because when I think of poverty the picture in my mind is of starving, skinny folks during the Great Depression or in third world countries.
Since I've always had both weight and money management difficulties myself, it got me thinking about about common denominators. These folks didn't appear to be particularly lazy or inactive. If you are on your feet every day waitressing, and are raising 5 or 6 kids, you probably get a good workout. 
Eating junky, fattening foods because they are filling and cheaper than healthier ones? Also eating them for pleasure because it's cheaper than other forms of recreation? Actual changes in your metabolism because of being under stress for long periods of time? A slight brain dysfunction where you have trouble keeping track of income and outgo, in terms of calories as well as money? Or just being so consumed by trying to make ends meet that you just don't pay attention to diet and exercise?
I know in my case I do seem to gain weight when we've had a long stretch of money worries, but I still can't say for sure why that is.
It got me curious enough to go ahead and order a book on Amazon that I've had on my wishlist a long time. It's called The Weight and Wealth Factors, by Angie Hollerich. For $1.12 plus shipping, using a discounted gift certificate, I figured I'd go for it. If I get any great insights from it, I'll report back. In the meantime, would be curious if anybody else has thoughts on the subject.
Weight and Wealth
January 19th, 2006 at 01:36 pm
January 19th, 2006 at 07:59 pm 1137700743
January 20th, 2006 at 03:19 am 1137727188
Very interesting correlation. I'd like to read the book too.
January 20th, 2006 at 04:50 am 1137732654
Another thought that I've noticed -trying to do both- is that managing money and managing weight use the same skills. You've managing an equilibrium - you got to be detail oriented, you can't let your emotions get in the way, you need a plan and patience because you are dealing with a thousand small tweaks. Ultimately to save money you have to take in more money than you spend; to manage weight you have to take in fewer calories than what you spend.
February 4th, 2006 at 03:06 pm 1139065583
May 10th, 2006 at 05:57 pm 1147283871
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