Live data from Hacker News

The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

npr.org

101–110 of 136 posts

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since it is also herritable, why would that be surprising?

The correlation is environment, not heredity. Twin studies. Please do not push any further toward the underlying message of white/western supremacy.

Your underlying arguement here is truly loathsome.

To argue that genetics plays an insignificant role in executive function is to pervert the science so far as to basically be a lie.

As for my white Western supremecy message, I'll try to pass along your recommendation to my biracial children.

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#102
Where are the actual income brackets? I clicked through the NPR article to the study itself and still can't find them.

I also don't understand how self-reported health can be objectively valid for a study like this.

E.g. if you believe you are healthy and never visit the doctor because you don't see a need to do so, but you have an undiscovered heart condition that causes your death a year after participating in the study.

It also seems like the headline is somewhat deceiving given that the study does not differentiate between mental and physical health. I don't assign the same weight to missing work because you are sick or injured to missing work because you feel depressed that day(I have admittedly had plenty of the latter at my old job).

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#103

It’s really hard for me not to be skeptical of a study that starts with the premise of measuring everyone else against “the most privileged group,” aka. white men, and then calling their metric “health justice.” I don’t know the stats off the top of my head but I’ve heard many times that men’s health issues are under-studies relative to women’s — ie breast cancer versus prostate cancer. I’ve also seen that mental hea…

Statistically speaking, white men are far and away the highest income earners in America. They are literally the most privileged group. Until 2008, 44 of 44 of US presidents were white men. White men dominate the Fortune 500, Wall Street, and leadership in the government. The paper also explicitly defined health justice as "a measure of the correlation of health outcomes with income, race/ethnicity and sex; and a sum…

[deleted]

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#104
post #46
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not. Don’t perpetuate this BS. Calorie for calorie and pound for pound healthy foods are far cheaper and more nutritious than whatever crap people are reaching for on supermarket shelves or drive thru windows these days. People have had their sense of taste hyper-stimulated for so long that they have grown a distaste for most “healthy” foods, to their own detriment. If every bite isn’t orgasmically delicio…

Well, pound for pound, and calories for calories, a pound of vegetables is more expensive than a pound of 85/15 beef. And a 2L of Coke is even cheaper (and heavier and calorific)... So, there’s that as a starting point.

A pound of 85/15 beef is like $6 at my supermarket. You can get a pound of frozen peas for $1.

Calories for calories, beans (NOT from a can, dry beans in a bag) are also like 20% of the cost of beef.

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#105
post #95

It’s really hard for me not to be skeptical of a study that starts with the premise of measuring everyone else against “the most privileged group,” aka. white men, and then calling their metric “health justice.” I don’t know the stats off the top of my head but I’ve heard many times that men’s health issues are under-studies relative to women’s — ie breast cancer versus prostate cancer. I’ve also seen that mental hea…

There is no such thing as a root cause. The economy is a dynamic system under a legal framework which governs the way it works. A lot of that legal framework is designed to punish the poor and punish minorities which makes them poor. It's doubly troubling and to tackle inequality requires tackling the legal and social framework our economy exists in which happens to have institutional racism and sexism. In other word…

> getting rid of racism and gender inequality

You can't get rid of racial and gender inequality, because we're inherently inequal to each other AND between the genders. It's in our DNA for the foreseeable future. We can diminish and mute it, at best. Diminishing returns has set in, while we ignore the more impactful issues.

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any sources for that? They are two separate conditions, with two separate causes and severities.

https://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/clarifying-lada-type...

I wasn't aware. Thanks!

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#107
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider this: Who do you think is more privileged, with "privileged" meaning access to money, support, opportunities and potential for advancement: Will Smith's kids or a white poor guy who grew up in West Virginia? I think the point the parent is trying to make is that at any individual's level income and wealth are a far better measure of privilege than race. Yes, wealth is highly correlated with race in the US, a…

Yes, there are white people are poorer than Will Smith. Unfortunately, if we want to do analysis of society at large, we need to look at trends. And leaving race out of class analysis tends to obscure some of the relationships at play. This is because class and our notions of race are forever entangled, not least of all because we are society predicated upon slave labor.

[deleted]

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#108

It’s really hard for me not to be skeptical of a study that starts with the premise of measuring everyone else against “the most privileged group,” aka. white men, and then calling their metric “health justice.” I don’t know the stats off the top of my head but I’ve heard many times that men’s health issues are under-studies relative to women’s — ie breast cancer versus prostate cancer. I’ve also seen that mental hea…

My friend, Tiana Baldwin, focused on the statistical correlation between Nursing Home costs and survival metrics. She got an award for her master thesis (and graduated), before becoming the city planner for Anaheim, CA. I would have thought it would be easy to look up. Now she works at Cal State University Fullerton as a Professor under her married name. I'm sure she can point you to the specific study. Sadly, I cannot find it casually.

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#109

America is set up like a strange satire. If you get unhealthy, you literally become poor to the song of 6 digits. A six digit reduction in wealth is enough to make over 90% of America poor.

It's enough to bankrupt hundreds of thousands of Americans - every year.

Your ill health and bankruptcy become someone else's yacht or private jet.

It's pure vampirism. There is no other word for it.

Re: The Gap Between Rich and Poor Americans' Health Is Widening

#110
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unhealthy foods are cheaper than healthy foods, partially due to sugar subsidies. This is what happens when corporations run the government. They lobby for things that are beneficial to their bottom line rather than what's better for the well being of the population.

Processed unhealthy foods are cheaper than processed healthy(er) foods. Beans and grains are cheap. Staple fruits and vegetables are cheap. Chicken is cheap (especially dark meat). Eggs are cheap. You can feed a family of 4 a very healthy diet for ~$100 a month if you're willing to put in the work sourcing and cooking. That's the crux of the issue, though. Food deserts combined with a lack of nutritional and culinary…

[dead]
Post reply on HN