People are always telling me smoking is bad for me. Really? Shit, I never knew...

I think I have to agree with this criticism of Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign. It reminds me so much of this comment, which calls people who go into their overdraft 'bad'. It seems that a lot of morality is really middle class habits, ways to justify maintaining the rich-poor gap, instead of going 'well, we're all equal as people, maybe we shouldn't be so much richer than these people.' Life is easier when you have money, it's much easier to make the right choices, so then you can look at others and point out they're mistakes and be a bit smug. Well thanks but no thanks. We know that being fat isn't ideal, that it would in some sense be better to drink and smoke less etc. Thanks.
Having said that, I know for years I had no idea what eating healthily meant. Now I know, I do eat a bit better. It's a struggle, though, to change your habits. What makes it more of a structure, and what I think is actually the key to this whole debate, is the structure in which I consume. The places I shop, the food I buy, the ways I think about buying food and what constitutes a meal, all tend towards me eating a lot of carbs and junk. This is the 'prole diet'. Compare what you buy in Waitrose with Asda. And it's nothing knew. Poor people fill up on bread and butter, because it's cheap. Who buys all the junk food with no nutrition? Poor people. Who don't give a shit because they feel their life isn't worth living since they could never have all the things the TV tells them they need to be happy, and so they feel forgotten and alone against the background of hollywood etc?
Now it's not *necessary*. If you're low income, but you budget well and know what you're buying, you can do ok. Particularly if you have time to prep stuff and shop around. But that isn't what most peoples lives are like. On the whole, poorer people will be less educated, have less free time and will have less access to good food and less motivation to find it.
If you want to tackle this problem, Michelle (I'm not using your first name to be disrespectful, I'm trying not to define you by your husband), then good. But don't imply fat people are lazy and patronisingly tell them to get off their ass. Attack the supermarkets. Make it easier to buy healthy food than unhealthy food. That's when it'll change.