Wealth, Stress, and Obesity

According to the BBC …

People in wealthy countries with “free market” economies are more likely to become obese, an Oxford University study says.

Money stresses in countries like the UK and US could explain their higher obesity levels, compared with countries such as Norway and Sweden.

I came across some surprising news in my Internet travels today – People in wealthy countries with “free market” economies are more likely to become obese. This comes courtesy of a compelling Oxford University study.

The reason I found this so surprising is that most of the conventional wisdom, and indeed the statistics, that have been pushed in the mass media over the past few years have all focused on how cheap foods are bad foods (and they usually are). This article adds yet another dimension to potential causes of the obesity epidemic – the stress of succeeding in a free market economy. So basically, the poor are in trouble, the rich are in trouble, and those who would like to become rich are probably in the most trouble of all.

Yikes.