Let's blame poor nutrition and obesity on a weak economy!

Should have been doing all along?

I'm going to put this out there - I believe that a big part of why the economy is heading south is because the media don't have anything else to report and the abundance of information we're getting is causing very low buyer confidence.

Recently, I read an article stating that consumer spending on Christmas presents hasn't been that low since 1969. Who needs that much "stuff"? Also, the US has been cutting jobs and laying off people - maybe it's a good thing. We may be just trimming the fat of who's producing the least in the workforce.

Personally, I'm sick of hearing just how bad the economy is. Yup, it appears we've fallen on hard times - deal. I feel that we are now putting blame on it as an excuse. Yes, jobs ARE harder to come by. It may be harder to keep your job - I say work that much harder so you are so valuable to a company that they can't get rid of you. Yes, stocks, bonds and 401Ks aren't doing well, but did you expect that they would just keep climbing? Of course at some point we were going to not buy as many cars, trips, and material things so the production would be slower. I think we as Americans are to the point now where we can just go, "Oh, I'm late to work because of the damn economy" and our bosses would just nod.

Obviously, we had it coming. The "war" is costing us billions for one. And the main reason is that people had it good, bought houses, cars and things that they couldn't afford in the first place, and now wonder what the hell happened. Sure there were some predatory lending practices - but who can't look at how much they make and how much the house will cost and realize the latter is more?

I know we've fallen on hard times, but come on people - you can take some of the blame too.

Anyhow, in reference to the article, I'm curious - do you think the economy is causing us to make poor food choices? Do you think the economy would make obesity rates lower because we go without food, or higher because we choose soda over milk?

It did make me sad to read this article. We're paying tax dollars to feed people, I think we have a right to at least know that they're purchasing more than chips and candy with it. If that means educating people on the basics of nutrition and exercise, than so be it.