Nevermind.

RUSerious, that gas station in the food desert was robbed recently. It's robbed quite often. Food desert?

gazettefan, why do you say "Maybe RUSerious will comment here to inform us about "food deserts" as a cause for obesity in the poor."
I know that comment of yours was based on a "conversation" we had here a few months ago where YOU brought up the concept of food deserts, and you asked me my opinion. You encouraged me to state my thoughts on their affect on obesity of the poor, which I did, apparently so you could turn around and suggest that "food deserts" were a myth and my thoughts on them were invalid.
This is at least the second time since that original post where you inquired about food deserts under the "Local man wins $1 million in Powerball drawing" story that you've dredged up the RUSerious/food deserts "connection", obviously not out of any real respect for the thoughts I shared (only at your request). Why?
But, for the sake fairness (to you AND to me), remember, you also commented "you point out many more valid reasons for the obesity of poor people." I had naively thought at the time that we were just sharing ideas, not providing bits of "stuff" for you to throw at me later.

Yep, atticusfinch, it's a real life incident. Comical , isn't it? And--NO-- I am not a tea party member, I can't indulge you there, sorry.

I would go out on a limb, here, and make a guess that that same smoker (smokers?) probably flicked their cigarette butt out the car window when they finished with the cancer stick. Lovely picture isn't it.

Are you sure that it was cigarette smoke?
http://www.inflexwetrust.com/wp-content/...

Yes they have. Witness ifiruedtheworld's "true story". Key word here--story. Makes for compelling reading for some, I guess...

When I saw the headline, I assumed that the article would be red meat for teabags. And of course they rose to the bait, predictably.

A cart of poor people in the store?
What, do they have their bank statements
pinned to the back of their jackets?

We need to prioritize what we can do...and we can't do everything, not with the lack of funds we're dealing with now.
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How about we as a community focus on the future...our kids?
Let the clinicians struggle (now) with patients' issues of poverty caused medical conditions.
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Let's tackle our kids' education/ability to learn - work with them so they can get thru a school day/allow no failures: "No F's!"

(Beats leaving campus for good, which results in no additional education, no/under employment and all the 'stuff' that comes with poverty.)
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Ames, Iowa's program: http://bit.ly/Yu8CPm
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"...teachers help develop an individualized plan for students to identify goals and eliminate barriers to success. Some of our students are homeless, for example, and some students’ parents are struggling with different issues. Other students come from homes with lots of support, yet they struggle for other reasons.

"...help students complete assignments on time, prep for quizzes and exams, and we encourage them to persist. We set high standards for rigor and attendance. We help with the obstacles to learning, such as hunger, or needing clothing."
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See a previous blog from this site (below). Call your local school (phone numbers in blog). Big Bros/Big Sisters is asking for volunteers, too. Do we want to read the same story that we have so many children living in poverty because of low self-esteem, substance abuse, no/under employment, etc., in 10-20 years, or do we want to make a commitment to do what we can. Oh... being a Big doesn't take any/much money, if you don't want to spend cash.
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http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/opinion-m...

http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/

Compare Rock Co. to Walworth: Rock scores 62nd, while Walworth scored 34th in state.
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There's more to this than sitting on one's fanny, eating chips and watching tv. Would like to hear what readers will post about these 'cultural' issues that aren't affected by food... You can gripe about Obama and what jobs have/haven't come to town, but he isn't telling your teens to get pregnant or letting them drop out of school. That's your fault as parents, community leaders and as teens that either need more love from their families, or are too drunk to keep their pants on.
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Compared to Walworth...just inches away, Rock has more sexually transmitted infections, higher teen birth rate, lower birth weight, lower high school graduation/less college, higher unemployment, more children in poverty, less social support, more children in single parent households, a lot more violent crime, more premature deaths.
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Rock has more smoking, higher adult obesity, more physical inactivity, more excessive drinking - but less motor vehicle crash deaths. Those with poor or fair health - they're equal. Rock has more physical and mental health time taken off, but not by much. Rock has slightly less access to healthy foods and more fast food restaurants.
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Yet, Rock has less uninsured (medical), more physicians, dentists, better diabetic screening. Our drinking water is better and we have slightly better air (fine particulate matter).

This is a true story...

About two months ago I was driving in my car in Janesville. In front of me at a stop light was a small sedan with about three people inside. The car had two bumper stickers on it: (1) an oval with "Pepsi" written in it; and (2) "I love Obamacare." As I waited for the light to change I saw cigarette smoke wafting out of the window. I tell you I was so disgusted thinking that ANY of my tax money would go to pay the health insurance of this person smoking who happens to "heart" Obamacare. This would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

The lack of an education system can also be blamed. Health class and eating right. One dont have to be very active to stay in shape. With 90% of the food available being garbage you really need to know your stuff to do your body right.
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JoyM - Perhaps you are not lazy, your knowledge of how to eat right could be lacking. Look at other countries that dont have the junk food pandemic... you have one large person out of 1000. Here you have one in shape person out of 1000.

I almost dropped my BigMac when I read this.

Maybe RUSerious will comment here to inform us about "food deserts" as a cause for obesity in the poor.

Zdog sums it up. When you look in a cart of most poor people in the store it's shocking.

Sheila1215: Go to www.transformrockcounty.org to find out what the Health Department and others in the community are doing to help make residents healthier. The coalition has been mentioned in the Gazette countless times.

they can blame it on binge drinking all they want, but the reality is, most people are poor and eat like total crap. I go to the same grocery stores as you everyone else and it's appalling what fills your carts. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me considering half don't even bother to change out of their pajamas to go shopping.

I think the era of video games,dvd,etc is what really started the obese kids.Sitting in front of the tv from a young age.Throw in junk food and drinks.Where is the physical activity?Do kids do physical chores anymore ? We played from am to pm outside as kids and we werent fat and we had chores..my opinion.

Only 26% of adults in rock county binge drink? Im shocked I thought for sure we could easily hit 33-40%. Come on people this is Wisconsin we can do better than that!

So what programs are they offering to fight childhood obesity?? I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and I have no clue what they offer. I go to the Rock County website often. Maybe this is part of the problem. You can have a program, but if no one knows what it is due to lack of advertising or outreach, how effective is it going to be?

Sigma I have to agree with you. You walk into walmart and for the most part see over weight people who just live to eat and smoke. Just walking past a person one can smell if they are a smoker. And it just not walmart but almost every bar people are standing outside smoking. Baby it is cold and windy but they don't care. Just have to have that smoke and come back in to stuff their face.

If you go to Janesville Craigslist Rants and Raves, you'll see first hand just how sick people in this area really are! It's an abomination!

Sigma, yes, you are right that obesity has its wealth of associated problems, but the offense I am taking at THIS post of yours is your assumption that all fat people are lazy. I've struggled with my weight all of my life with varying degrees of success, but in the meanwhile I've managed to always work at least full time, sometimes with an extra part-time job, after college I went onto school at night and got my master's degree, I work full time, we are raising two kids, I try to get to the Y 3x a week, and when I collapse on the couch to watch TV it's the news first and then lucky if I get to sit long enough to watch anything else. I really don't think I fit your stereotype. I'm overweight partly because of genetics and partly because I have to divide myself up among so many places that taking care of me falls to the back burner; when I was young and single, my metabolism and my life were more accommodating. Not an excuse, just a fact.

What about adult obesity? I cant believe how many people smoke. It seems a lot of people are either uneducated or just dont care about themselves. Allowing yourself to get fat and compounding it by smoking, you might as well be sucking on the barrel of a gun. Could be a reflection of the unemployment rate also. Its very hard to find good help, or people that actually want to show up and work. Seems most would rather sit at home smoking or filling their face. Might as well, for a lot of people welfare is a better choice. Awesome system we have in place. Lets help the poor because they dont want to help themselves. ...not all, but a large percentage.

Anytime a government agency starts comparing themselves to other agencies in regard to servicing the public you better keep your wallet or purse nearby.