Some of which is due to our extended lifespans. And I’m not certain why you feel it undeniable. Again, check your SES for both obesity (not particularly correlated) and earlier death (very much correlated, take for example tuberculosis).
But again, I see our risks as having risen via poor choices we can make now that we couldn’t 100 years ago, but also as having lowered via good choices we can make now that wouldn’t have been obvious to us 100 years ago.
Poor people don’t live in the same era of plentiful healthy options and reduced exposure to accident and disease that affluent people do. That’s all I’m arguing.
A very data oriented friend of mine has been tracking meat prices locally since he started training which I’d put at some seven some years ago. He mentioned last year that prices had increased on average 20% across beef/poultry during that time.
Early detection and extended lifespans do not account for the change, not only in obesity rates, but things like type 2 diabetes in kids. Obesity being a leading indicator in most of the chronic disease we are discussing (even cancer). And even if you want to discount data from long ago, look at the last 20 years. Our lifespan isn’t longer. Our detection ability isn’t better. Its just America so SES is pretty equivalent. Obesity is up more than 30%. Our general health is in significant decline, especially our health span. People are living pretty long today, though largely fat, and arthritic, and on medications, and in pain, and depressed…
We may just be using different evaluations of what health means, and that’s fine. I don’t care as much about life span as life quality.
