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Good observation; but I think metabolic differences leading to higher/lower IQs is a stretch (and smells weirdly eugenicist! but that's just my personal opinion).

It seems obvious to me that being poor makes it harder to be healthy. Stand all day and you're too tired to cook or exercise after work. You end up eating calorically dense, ultra processed foods because they're quick to prepare and easy to come by. The stress takes a toll on you physically, but there's no time to see a doctor, and your health insurance sucks. Even if you wanted to exercise, and found a cheap gym, you're more likely to develop something like a repetitive use injury that makes movement painful. And you're probably not getting good sleep, which affects your metabolism as well.

I'd be interested in whether the poverty/obesity correlation holds outside the US or if it's unusually high here. My guess is that it's mostly an American thing.



> I think metabolic differences leading to higher/lower IQs is a stretch (and smells weirdly eugenicist!

I read it the exact other way around: Wasn't GP saying that higher IQ leads to a slimmer body?

(Presumably because the brain is burning more calories; not that I know what "NEAT" means in this context.)


Ohh good point! I admit I also didn't bother to look up NEAT, but looks like non-exercise activity thermogenesis, which aligns with your interpretation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-exercise_activity_thermo...




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