McGrath has a point. Around where I live, poor people tend towards obesity. Many of my friends have also noted that they've gained weight their first year on their own. Poor nutrition is a big reason why people get, well, big. Between fast food when money is available, and huge amount of pasta when it isn't, people with limited budgets find that the cheapest, filling, food is hardly a balanced meal. Add to that the phenomena that fat feels filling, and most of us north americans are used to a nice, full feeling after eating, and you get a lot of bad nutritional habits.

As for world hunger...i doubt that my eating less beef (yum!) and more rice will really make a difference anywhere. If enough of us did it...meat prices inside the country would drop, huge amounts of money would go into a new beef advertising campaign, and rice imports would go up. none of which would make much of a difference anywhere to anyone but the top 5% of the population. oh, and the beef farmers would suffer.

Pax,
Ceit