Poverty causes obesity. Low-income families need to be better off to eat well.

Poverty causes obesity. Low-income families need to be better off to eat well. ↗

Larry Elliot to the point — and right — as ever:

If obesity is linked to poverty – which is what the evidence suggests – then the way to reduce obesity is to reduce poverty.

Two things about how poverty itself is moralised, and by extension demonised. Firstly, through making the poor “other”; a coherent group, recognisably different from “us”. Secondly, through assigning a weird sense of agency to environment. In the past, they misspent our well-earned money, mostly on flat-screen TVs. But then consumer goods became cheap and easy to buy second hand. Now, they can’t make simple, healthy choices. Or: Why not buy lettuce rather than Coca-Cola?