1. Have you noticed/ been informed of Dr. Dre’s recent physique changes? They are startling.

2. In his book Weightlifting and Strength Training, Mohammad el Hewie discusses the issue of obesity, and particularly the stigma associated with physical exercise and exertion among the poor in his native Egypt. I personally think there is a lot of carryover to poor and uneducated in developed nations as well. The theme, that when people have to perform physical labor to put food on the table, they will avoid labor when they don’t have to do it, has been a recurring theme throughout history. This will continue to affect the poor.

3. Like smoking, the dangers of being out of shape are somewhat abstract and distant. Someone can be out of shape for years before their flabbiness actually makes them sick. I don’t know that I would lift as much as I do, had I not started in physical rehab when I was 9 and kept lifting through high school and college to rehab other injuries and prevent recurrence of injuries. A sense of immediacy makes people do things, including exercise. Any short term goal will have a greater impact on getting people into the gym, as long as the person wants to achieve the goal.

4. The relatively healthy diet enjoyed by the wealthy in the modern West is not a reflection of history. In much of European history, the wealthy tended to be overweight, have bad teeth and other health problems resulting from an unbalanced diet, while the poor, at least in good harvest years, tended to have a good diet with some meat, complex carbohydrates, and vegetables grown on the land. And keep in mind, bread was actually nutritious then.

As a proud owner of a B.A. in sociology, it’s good to see people realize that many of the health-related choices we make in life are socially driven.

However, I’d be reluctant to use smoking as a good comparison to obesity, since smoking is a completely voluntary act that is not necessary to survive. Eating, on the other hand, cannot be avoided no matter how healthy you do it.

Working against social circles in the case of obesity are the more infrastructural causes of the problem. Part of the reason lesser-income people are fatter is not because their friends encourage them to eat a lot, but because the only food they can afford comes from McDonald’s and Wendy’s. One of their friends may work out a lot, but if they still mostly eat junk food because it’s cheaper, then they’re already walking the wrong way on the escalator, so to speak.

Also, it must be said that the very nature of our society is working against us all, in that most of us drive everywhere, sit in cubicles, work stations and other sedentary positions, and have no daily source of exercise that we don’t take the time to create ourselves. Many aspects of our culture already stack the odds against us, even if our social circle is more health-friendly.

I’d say, if you wanted to target obesity via social circles, the only ones that would see real results would be those of the rich and obese, not the poor and obese, since they have fewer financial, spare time and dietary options overall.

Very thoughtful. I’m still turning your angle over but a though occurs…

But what if I got to the end of the process and realized there’s no actionable message to deliver? I started my marketing research with the understanding that obesity is disproportionately a problem among the least educated and least affluent. What do I do if my research suggests that education and income aren’t just symptoms, but are in fact the problem?

Exactly. Once you work through it, I don’t think this approach is actionable. However, while the ability to afford calories technically sets a minimum of income to achieve obesity, I would doubt a strong correlation beyond that. You could survey states by obeisity levels and average income… something tells me Mississippi (sorry, guys) is not the most fit state, though consistently ranking very poor and with endemic educational problems. Connecticut usually ranks with the most B.A.s and correspondingly higher income. But is it fatter than Isn’t there a obesity & functional poverty link instead?

CDC in 2005 ranks these states with most obesity:
1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. West Virginia
4. Louisiana
5. Kentucky

Census.gov shows 2005 states with LEAST bachelor degrees:
1. West Virginia
2. Arkansas
3. Kentucky
4. Louisiana
5. Alabama

Census.gov also shows LEAST average income:
1. Louisiana
2. Mississippi
3. West Virginia
4. Arkansas
5. Utah

Perhaps we should look at what cultural factors are at play in Utah and especially Arkansas? Differing regional diet? Less social acceptability of overweight people? Better state social programs? More/better/cheaper regional produce? Smaller doorways? A definite fitness culture, and certain cultural behaviors with regard to diet and food storage (LDS requirements) cannot be overlooked in Utah. Plus, the south is nasty hot and humid in my humble opinion, and made me wimpishly crawl back to a cooler climate personally (and that was only Virginia!). I do not begrudge them for not walking home from work everyday but driving with the AC blasting in that climate.

Anyway, despite that, I am still intrigued by the social networking angle. I think anxiety in the workplace has a lot to do with it, I’d like to see workplace correlations. Same with groups of friends that love tasty microbrews (that sure pack on the calories). Ironically, I’ve lost 80 pounds recently by loosing a job, getting injured w/o insurance, going bankrupt, and managing to stay somehow unemployed. In part because I can’t afford luxuries like coffee or beer, and in party because my calories are restricted even though they come from unhealthy sources (I don’t want to think about my arteries, but it’s still probably a healthy trade-off) So I guess there’s always an exception! I look forward to more of these interesting posts here (first time here), thanks.

Refs:
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/rankings.html
http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2006/