Unpopular opinion, but part of the problem is that stupid people are more likely to have kids, and especially many kids. Stupid people become stupid parents.
Here’s something that’ll bake your noodle: what if you’re not as clever as you think you are, and due to the DunkinDonuts-Keurig effect, you don’t know you’re one of the stupid ones?
This is actually something I'm constantly preoccupied with. I've assumed the "Assume you're one of the stupid ones until proven otherwise" position.
That said, if I had some objective statement that I was somehow below average that would largely suck.
Don't worry, I expect there'll be some other equally objective measure by which you're above average.
Overcoming bad lifestyle habits is a challenge for many, especially those who inherited those habits as children. But we can absolutely do better than "fat == stupid".
B. It's not necessarily a self-awareness issue. Many people know that they lead unhealthy lifestyles, but are unable to make long-term changes to their health for a variety of reasons. The motivational psychology behind wellness really conflicts with those accustomed to sedentary lifestyles.
A major factor that is well-known in health sciences is that extrinsic motivators (i.e. exercising to improve how you look) for lifestyle and dietary changes rarely work for people. People put a lot of pressure on themselves, work really hard for a few weeks, and for some reason don't drop an absurd amount of weight in that short time, which usually leads to relapse and guilt.
Funny enough, when I was doing research on motivational psychology for my BS in kinesiology, one of the most common complaints among people trying to reverse lifelong habits was that they feared failure and shame from the public. So all of that "if you're fat, you're stupid" logic that's being thrown around here is absolutely contributing to this problem, based on my experience.
[0]https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/095679761143552...
[1]https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/intelligence-is-inherited-...
Not just unpopular, not supported by science.
your snopes article is about inheriting from mother alone, not parents
There IS also a significant difference between births based on income
https://www.statista.com/statistics/241530/birth-rate-by-fam...
65 births per 1000 women vs 43 births per 1000 women
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/science/genes-education.h...
I think another reason could be that people become conditioned to like things that make them feel good and happy, and something that tastes "nice" (i.e the engineered foods made to tap into our love for salt, fat and sugar) is a good relief from the stresses that come from being poor. But I figure this is an unpopular hypothesis because of the subjectivist-individualist ideology in which only the very last step in making a choice is relevant, rather than the reasons leading up to the choice. So we throw subjective preferences out and attempt to decide if buying such food is "rational" or "irrational" at the point of purchase. This economism unfortunately shuts out important details in preference formation.
What about the role of education, advertising, the pressures faced by poor parents in their actions towards their children etc.?
Fresher foods also often have a shorter shelf life and are harder to store, which is a particular issue if getting to the store often is a struggle (e.g. public buses).
You then combine that with lack of cooking instruction in many low income public schools, and you have a recipe for ready meals and similar convenience foods.
You eat bad food, it decreases your intelligence or at least your ability to function effectively (bad digestion, blood sugar spikes, general longer term health issues).
Then you spiral down.
Fresh food isn't expensive. On the contrary; it's extremely cheap compared to the benefits it confers.
It's far better value for money than, say, another 5 sqm on your living quarters.
People love to complain about a "nanny state", but an alternative is often closer to a syndicate (?) state than anything else. We would like to think people would make choices that are healthy for them. Evidence seems somewhat overwhelming that they do not.