What's the old saying you can never be too rich or too thin?

I don't know if that statement could ever be more relevant than it is today. There aren't any two subjects that are talked about more than money and weight loss in our society.

The funny thing is both of these subjects are related in some strange ways. One would think that the more money you have the more overweight the person may become. But in our country just the opposite is true.

The United States is the only country in the world where the poorest segment of its population is also the most overweight. At first the statement might not seem to make sense but when you consider that the healthiest foods tend to be the most expensive foods it becomes easier to understand how this phenomenon can actually take place.

If you've ever tried to eat healthier by purchasing range free meat or organically grown vegetables then you know firsthand how expensive it can be. On the other hand if you are dealing with limited financial resources your main concern at the supermarket is getting as much quantity for your dollars as possible.

And for that reason people with limited incomes tend to buy the less healthy food which consequently is also the cheapest. Not only is it cheaper but the quantities are larger. So in America you can get a lot of food that's really bad for you at a low price.

This obviously sets up the cycle of lower income families eating foods that are typically high in sodium and fat and intern have higher rates of obesity as well as other associated diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol levels.

With all the talk about health care reform that's going on today very rarely is the affordability of healthy food choices ever discussed.

Let's face it, if all we do with our health care in this country is make more funds available to cover people that are suffering from the most prominent ailments of which most stem from poor eating habits and not address prevention by making healthier food choices more accessible to lower income families them once again we just are throwing money at a problem without truly seeking a meaningful solution.

If you track the raise in the obesity rate in America you will find that it tracks very closely to the income levels of those individuals where the rates of obesity are increasing the fastest.

If the other old saying is true "you are what you eat" then there is no amount of health care reform that will make any meaningful change in the lives of our future generations if we ignore making fundamental changes to the affordability of healthy foods to lower income individuals.

Another saying that you may hear every now and then is "garbage in garbage out." Could it be possible that real health care reform could begin with something as simple as an apple a day?