At what point is it a failure of the person and not the system?
An 18 year old has spent their life eating what they’re given, exercising when they’re told, and having to get permission to use the bathroom.
The actual issue at hand seem to he that those kids have better opportunities.
The costs of eating healthy are high. 2 years online schooling for most kids coming out of high school has lowered overall comprehension levels. Parents working long hours put in little effort to see that their child is active, healthy, and studious. No role models, no healthy lifestyles, no belief in a future.
The lack of physical activity is down to the parents. Generation X raised their kids with strict rules and a high safety concern. Can’t play outside when you’re not allowed to cross streets or climb trees.
I aslo didnt realize the arrogance that is embedded in it as well as the role that chance played in my good financial position.
My best friend is a chemical engineer. He's studied 2 or 3 magnitudes harder than me, but the last 20 years didn't favor Chemical Engineers as much as software engineers. He's done well or plenty good, but to reduce the question of economics to a sense of personal responsibility as if those who are not financially stable -- deserve it, because they are lazy or not aware -- is a gross understatement and exactly why there is a such division in this country.
Yet some people live in food deserts and can't readily access reasonably priced healthy foods. 19 million Americans have limited access to a proper store (https://www.aecf.org/blog/exploring-americas-food-deserts) and unhealthy foods cost poor Americans less than healthy foods in both money and (more importantly) time.
> Broadband is subsidized or free for poor families.
and yet during the pandemic school districts had to drive school buses acting as hotspots into poor communities in order to help the ~15 million public school students who had zero internet access but had to participate in remote learning. (https://all4ed.org/publication/homeworkgap/) Millions more have some form of internet access, but don't have internet speeds or devices capable enough for online learning. In Alcona county for example 60% of the students don't have reliable internet access at home.
The system is failing a whole lot of people. That doesn't absolve people from personal responsibility but it's wrong to pretend very real problems don't exist and influence people's actions and outcomes.
Healthy foods have been hit by inflation, and if you grew up on food stamps you may never have had access to the right amount of healthy food to make it through childhood with a decent diet.
The Government has excellent resources on meal planning and budgeting on SNAP:
https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/nutrition-education/nutrition-ed...
https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/nutrition-education/nutrition-ed...
I agree that these resources exist, but actually being able to practically implement them is different than them existing.
The typical person on HN is probably educated enough and is in a position in life where these things aren't problems as adults, but that's not going to help a kid that is still living with parents or in a situation that they do not control.