Food Deserts and Inequality in Access to Nutrition.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Why not? I cannot believe that poor people are completely ignorant of nutrition. Fine details maybe, but a general veggies-good-coke-bad idea must be around, surely? I guess (having spent many years researching US urban ghettoes ) it is more to do with the primacy of immediate survival:
I can get this Burger, fries and coke, now, that will keep me going for another eight hours, within my limited budget; rinse and repeat.
Or maybe just not valuing long-term health over a short term sugar-fat-salt fix.

Some other potential factors.
1) Cooking time. If it's a one-parent household, or both parents work, possibly multiple jobs, it is extremely tempting to have a ready-to-eat meal, whether it's a frozen dinner or fast food.
2) Cost. Processed food is extremely high-energy for low cost. It's unhealthy energy, but it gets you more full for less money than many healthier alternatives.
3) Culture. Even in situations where the previous are not as true anymore as they were, you may have grown up raised by parents for which it was true. Your comfort food is often what you had when you were a kid.