he Weight of the Nation: Poverty and Obesity is a fascinating documentary that sheds light on the severe consequences of a society struggling to take care of its poor and low-income people, which is most people in the US. The "poverty" line in the US is a laughable $26,200 per year for a family of four Links to an external site., so when you see poverty rates labeled as "low" in America, realize that anything above $26,200 of annual family income is not considered poverty. There are many factors that contribute to "poverty" and the arbitrary line this country uses needs to be re-evaluated if we care to improve the material conditions that lead to human well-being. Links to an external site. We've learned in this module that happiness and well-being are limited for households that fall under $75,000 annual income and in 2019, 53% of US households earned less than $75,000 per year. Links to an external site. That is a lot of economic precarity! There are numerous negative health outcomes associated with poverty and it may surprise you to learn that obesity is one of them.

Please view this documentary; respond with information you learned in several sentences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MJnm5X9NN0&ab_channel=HBODocs Let me also encourage you to break the cultural taboo (technically a folkway, not a taboo) of not talking about your incomes! Normalize sharing your wages and annual incomes with your friends and colleagues, not to brag or show status (or lack thereof), but to expose the inequities you may not even realize are present! This is particularly impactful considering the gender wage gap where women are paid less than men for similar work. Talking about wages exposes these issues and empowers you as workers, which puts the onus on your employers to create more equitable work environments (a key factor to improved mental health, as we have learned). See, psychology connects to absolutely everything. Keep fighting!