Life's Worse for the Poor

Here's an example of the title one (i.e., one who is white, middle class, and suburban) would never think of--a map showing locations of commuter-child accidents in downtown Detroit.

Comfort Food and Stress

John Tierney at NYTimes writes about research suggesting primates who are stressed out seek "comfort food". The suggestion is that stress would help account for the class differentials in obesity.

Pollan's Thesis Takes a Hit

One of Michael Pollan's arguments in "In Defense of Food" against what he calls nutritionism is that idea that, since the 1970's, our health has declined even as nutritionists have had more influence over what we eat. A report in Wednesday's Washington Post seems to counter that position:

The difference in death rates between highly educated and poorly educated people in the United States is very wide and growing wider, according to new research.

For Americans with less than a high school education, the risk of dying prematurely is on the increase -- rising most quickly for white women in that category. In contrast, the risk of premature death among college graduates is falling -- fastest of all for black men.

It's true that much of the decline is due to changes in life-style (i.e, no smoking) but it certainly doesn't support the idea the health of educated, monied people (the ones who buy Pollan's books) is declining. And here's the CBO's take on the issue