Depression will cure our obesity?

by philg

Costco was packed today. There is nothing like a good depression to boost sales at a wholesale store. While enjoying my $1.50 hotdog and soda, I shared a table with a college girl. “My student loan company went bankrupt,” she noted, “so I’m looking for other funding.” What about a semester job? “I’m working at a Dunkin Donuts near school,” she replied, “but business is slow. We’ll probably have to close if things continue like this.”

Just a few months ago it would have been tough to imagine that the economy could slump enough to keep people away from their Boston Cream Donuts. Perhaps finally Americans will slim down.

4 thoughts on “Depression will cure our obesity?”

  1. The Costco hot dog costs the same amount in 2008 as it did in 1995 (and in 1995, I only got 12 oz. of soda rather than 20). Too bad the rest of the economy hasn’t been able to control inflation so well.

  2. Although rice and beans beat chips and soda in nutrition and cost. Poor folks and folks feeling poor usually make the worse choice in food. Something about no joy in life so a tasty bag of chips will have to do. I believe Dickens wrote something about poor immigrants spending excessive money on tea. Timeless human logic failure. You’d think Dunkin Donuts 99 cent lattes would be a big hit…

  3. History would indicate population obesity increases with financial hardship. Obesity is much more common in poverty stricken areas in the United States. Rather than heading to Chez Felipe for a fancy dinner with smaller servings, low income families head for Burger King where $20 buys a gut busting meal instead of an appetizer. Your $1.50 Costco meal is a great example. Certainly hunger exists in the United States but the abject poverty with inability to buy any food is a small percentage of the population easily outweighed by generously sized Americans.
    Financial recession/depression is associated with increased psychiatric symptoms of depression which is then in turn also associated with obesity.
    For the lucky few not succumbing to depression or a need for deep fat fried somethings, that Curves monthly gym membership begins to look a bit extravagant which contributes to the problem as well.
    Currently the U.S. spends over 200 billion/year on diabetes.
    http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp
    A large share of diabetes is due to obesity, inactivity, and poor diet.
    I wonder what the cost of diabetes will be next year?

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